


Sealed With

by TheWritingMustache



Category: Assassin's Creed, Prototype (Video Game)
Genre: Body Horror, Budding Romance, Character "death", For Science!, M/M, budding obsession, im chatting, slow descent into insanity, things to make you squirm, two guys one room, virus infection, yes the virus is its own being in this story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-25
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-09 23:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1151841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWritingMustache/pseuds/TheWritingMustache
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A virus infection is a slow, but quiet process. It gets inside you and doesn't come out, no matter how hard you try to deal with it. You might not even know you have a virus until it's too late. But never, do you get to see the infection happen with your own eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Such A Pretty Face (Radiant)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit - 1/25/15: Thank you all so much for reading this, in honor of Sealed With's first birthday, I created the 8tracks version of its soundtrack, feel free to listen to it while you read, or re-read the story!
> 
> http://8tracks.com/fancykelstache/sealed-with-the-protocreed-fanfic

The door slid shut and locked into place. The seems disappeared, as if the door itself was never there, and it had been a normal wall all along. Which meant the experiment had begun. Locked in one room with one other person who was purposely turning himself into a living bioweapon or something. Desmond kind of half payed attention to the explanation that was given to him about this, but he did know that he was stuck in here until the experiment was deemed complete. And why him to sit in the same room as the mad scientist?

Cause he had shitty taste in friends. And it's what he got for getting close to a co-worker instead of keeping things strictly professional. Abstergo's fault though, not his! Desmond had been the sole errand boy of the one and only head geneticist and expert on everything that makes you sicks, so of course they had developed this weird friendship sort of thing. Which mostly revolved around going out to get Italian food every other night. So because of that, Desmond was elected to be locked up with said expert because why the fuck not?

It wasn't that he hated the idea of being stuck with Alex for however long, no that was fine. He just didn't know how long Alex could stand to be with him. The good doctor wasn't exactly a people person, and Desmond had been thrown out of his lab on more than one occasion. Alex couldn't exactly force Desmond away from him now when there was maybe only twelve feet between each wall. Yeah, they were in a literal box, a square with a sliding screen that divided the bathroom from the rest of the room.

A table, a couch, a bed, and a bench where Alex could do all his science shit. Man, Abstergo were the experts on interior decorating. Next time they could add some throw pillows and lace cloths to throw over the couch. The perfect place to lock up two grown men with the only form of entertainment being a laptop that Abstergo itself was tracking. Yeah, someone broke the bank with this idea.

"You can stop looking so damn pathetic now" Alex said from across the room, not even looking up from his work.

Desmond let out a groan and flopped down on their bed (one bed, pristine white sheets, yup, had to share it).

"Sorry for not being entirely thrilled with this?" Desmond responded. "I like you man, but this sounds like a bad idea"

"Perhaps, but too late now" Alex said, rolling his shirt sleeve up to expose his bicep. "It won't be so bad, it's been behaving itself pretty well lately"

"No it hasn't!" protested Desmond. "It almost broke out of its unit the other day when someone so much as sneezed wrong!"

"Almost, but didn't" the other man said as he picked up the world's biggest syringe ever. Inside the barrel was a swirling, black mass that flashed red every few seconds. As Alex picked the syringe up, the mass swirled faster, the red becoming more frequent, and Desmond knew that it knew what was happening. He had half a mind to get up and take it away from the doctor, just to at least stop him for now. His heart plummeted from his chest as Alex set the needle against his arm.

"It's gonna kill you" Desmond warned. "Don't fucking do it, Alex. That thing-"

"Is my life's work" Alex grunted as he pushed the needle in. "It's…gonna be fine" he hissed as he pressed the stopper down, and the black mass inside the barrel was pushed into his body. Didn't even blink when he did it, Alex simply stared down his own arm as he injected the virus until the syringe was empty. Desmond didn't dare look away. He was terribly afraid the virus would suddenly lash out, kill them both. Or start attacking Alex and get the whole take over bullshit out the way.

But codename "Blacklight", as vicious as it could be, entered its creator with no resistance. Alex was hardly affected. He set the syringe down and stretched out his arm. That was it. Like nothing happened.

"What I tell ya?" Alex smirked. "It's fine. It'll take some time to move through my bloodstream, take root inside me, and start attacking anything it can get its hands on. Might take a couple days, might be terribly painful, or not, dunno. By the end of the week, I'm gonna be a changed man"

"You're gonna be dead, Alex"

Alex kept smirking and just shook his head.

And they were locked in here.


	2. I Saw You Across the Room

_Day 2_

 

Alex had a fever that he couldn't be happier about. He had gone to sleep the previous night totally fine, then woke up the next morning noticeably paler. Desmond felt his face, took his temperature, and flipped out when the thermometer said Alex had a temperature of 102. That was incredibly concerning for someone who was positively healthy only six hours beforehand. But not to Alex, oh no! He sat there with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, delighted as can be to have his body practically on fire while he huddled underneath a blanket.

"Isn't it just amazing?" Alex sighed in content. "By this point, it's in my system. Any system, it doesn't care what system. And oh my body knows it, it knows it's there. Only a matter of time before our friend starts to attack. Replicate. Dominate. Could happen in the next hour, the next couple days. Or maybe, it's happening right now"

 "Don't like that" Desmond whined. "You sound so fucking creepy"

Alex just kept smiling.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Dude, now you look high" Desmond said, watching the doctor blink slowly at the wall of the bathroom. It seemed like a good idea (the most sane one yet) to just dump Alex in the bath with cold water. And surprisingly enough, he felt considerably cooler to the touch. But now he looked alarmingly relaxed yet incredibly dumbfounded by the current situation he found himself in, 

"I don't…feel high" Alex responded slowly. "But I feel like…Like everything's slowed down a bit. It's kinda relaxing"

Sitting in a bathtub full of cold weather didn't seem like a vacation.

"Would you like me to go write that down for you?" Desmond asked with a sigh.

"Off you go, diligent lab assistant" Alex waved him away, and sunk lower into the tub. Without any need to argue, Desmond returned to the main room to type up a shitty little report Alex would have to edit later.

 

 _End Day 2_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters will be as long or short as I feel like making them. -rayshrug-
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and views, you're all awesome!


	3. I Knew I Had to Have You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that scene in The Mummy with the flesh burrowing scarab beetles? Well if you don't, or haven't seen it, go look it up on Youtube first before reading this chapter.
> 
> And if you did as told or just plain remember it, please enjoy today's chapter.

_Day 3_

"Hey Desmond, wanna see something gross?"

"Why the fuck would I- HOLY SHIT NO, NO NO, GO AWAY! NO, NO, OHMYGOD, THAT'S SO GROSS, STOP IT, STOP IT!"

"But it's so weeeeeeird! I'm literally not doing any of that!"

"YEAH WELL STOP IT, JUST. STOP. IT. DON'T TRY AND TOUCH ME WITH THAT!"

"Stop being a baby, Desmond! See, it did stop! You hurt its feelings"

"Oh man, fucking pardon me for flipping out over the virus playing with your damn hand like a ragdoll. Man, I feel fucking terrible"

"You should, asswipe"

Alex used his other hand to gently run it over the one that moments ago looked like it was going through something out of The Exorcist. "It's okaaaay, it's okaaay. He didn't mean it, it's okaaay" he cooed at his own hand, as if the gestures would encourage the virus to resume doing it's creepy ass shit of creepy ass shittery. Whatever it was gonna do, Desmond backed away from the scientist, wanting to put as much distance between himself and that.

"Dude stop talking to it like that" Desmond hissed. "It's not a damn puppy!"

"Yeah well it doesn't mean it doesn't have feelings" Alex shot back.

"Since when did it get feelings?!"

"Whenever it decided to copy mine! I've told you! It's a replicating virus. It's supposed to be acting like this"

"Yeah, then next it's gonna burst out of your chest and I'll have a killer xenomorph on my hands!"

Alex just rolled his eyes at him and resumed encouraging his freaky Frankenstein project to keep doing that replicating shit. Which meant….It was tearing apart his bones, muscle, and veins…Just everything, then filling the space with itself. That was the explanation Desmond had been given a long, long time ago. But seeing it in action was super gross.

Alex had just walked up to him, shoved his hand in his face, and got to see Desmond flip his shit about it. Skin wasn't supposed to bulge like that. Nor were bones supposed to look like they were going to break out of said skin. Nor was anything supposed to be inside a hand in general like that. Desmond had seen enough movies to know how this shit went, and oh god it never meant anything good. This was a bad horror movie in the making that he really wanted to get away from.

"Desa-mundo!"

"What?" Desmond barked as he whirled around. "What do you fucking want now?"

"Nothing" Alex smiled. "Except I am in some incredible pain as the insides of my arm are being devoured. Holy fucking hell" and the scientist' happy expression turned to one of pain as he dropped to the ground.

The next couple hours were primarily filled with Alex on his side clutching at his arm in agony. Just looking at his arm, it was pretty easy to see why. If the really creepy and gross movements in his hand was bad, the absolute carnage in the rest of the attached limb was worse. It was like the one arm was trying to go Hulk on Alex but was failing miserably. Muscles bulged in all the wrong ways, solid bone could sometimes be heard snapping. At one point the virus didn't know where to go with itself, so it just casually split open skin to take a quick breather.

That was the absolute worst part. It was absolutely, the xenomorph moment from Alien. The sound it made was stomach wrenching, a large shhip and there was a tear in Alex's forearm with inky black tentacle things wiggling out of it. Both Alex and Desmond spent a few minutes screaming at it in absolute horror. Then when it retracted back into Alex's body and closed the wound it caused, both men remained screaming just for the hell of screaming at that point.

But alas, the virus didn't stop there. Once it stopped finding things to consume and recreate in the one arm, the virus moved right along, over the shoulders, the ribcage, the collarbone…and right over to the other arm that was still intact. And thus, several more hours were consumed by never ending pain on the incredible man of science playing host to one insatiable Blacklight.

"Is it worth it?" Desmond eventually asks as the lights dim in their hovel, signifying that the late night had arrived. "Is it really, really worth it still?"

He asks this in their growing darkness, throats raw from screams of terror, or earlier vomiting induced by the pain or fear respectively. Both, sick to their empty stomachs. Both, done with science for one night. Both, growing ever fearful of this awakening, toxic beast sitting onside the one. And in that growing dark, in all of that, the creator whispers back, a response lost on another convulsion of his entire being. He tries again, in a rough, scratchy voice. A response Desmond knew he would hear.

"Undoubtedly. Now..the real fun is happening….Start a report"

 

_End Day 3_


	4. Thus Started The Chase

Desmond couldn't focus on this shitty little report anymore. He wasn't a scientist, or the scholarly type, or anything like that. He was just the errand boy, the fuck was he doing this for? Trying to use it as a distraction wasn't helping him anymore. He kept glancing over at Alex sprawled on the bed, finally asleep after today's horrorfest. For how long until the virus lost its goddamn mind again, there was no telling. Hopefully it would Alex rest for a couple more hours before it had another field day.

Desmond kept to himself to the couch, occupied by one of Abstergo's amazing portable tablets that did everything. Writing up a report with one sentence, or playing games, browsing the web. Mostly just doing his best to stay awake. And if he did fall asleep, at least it wouldn't be near Alex in case he flipped out again. That…thing already broke skin once, what's to say it couldn't do it again?

Desmond set the tablet aside and stretched, letting out a yawn. Maybe going to sleep would be a good idea. He just needed to talk to someone first and then he'd grab his pillow. Desmond closed all the apps on the tablet, and opened up Abstergo's own little IMing network. The person he was looking for, was of course online, probably monitoring them. Hopefully she'd humor him, he hadn't had anyone else to talk to except Alex, and that was only entertaining for so long;

 

_WhiteEagle began chatting with StillHere_

WE: Isn't it past your bedtime, young lady? c;

SH: Don't even start  
SH: Shouldn't you be in bed too?

WE: Nooo. I got some mad science stuff to do.  
WE: Of science.  
WE: I'm an esteemed scientist now thank you very much

SH: Shut uuuup.

 

He couldn't help but grin. He missed talking to her. Three days felt like a long time to go without speaking to her.

 

WE: But I miiiiiiiiiiiiiised you. D: Didn't you misss meeee?

SH: Can I say no?

WE: D:  
WE: T_T

SH: Please stop

WE: But you're so meaaaan. I'm locked up in a room with Dr. Mercerstein and his monster, and I just can't get a simple hello from you?

SH: Alright.  
SH: Hello.

WE: Hiiiiiii. :D

SH: You talk like a thirteen year old girl, you know that?

WE: I doooo not!

SH: Go to bed Desmond

WE: No, youuu go to bed. So I can sleep peacefully knowing you're not watching me.

SH: I'm not watching you guys right now  
SH: I really couldn't after, you know

 

Shit.

 

WE: Saw all that?

SH: Perhaps

WE: Fuck me dude.  
WE: And I can't back out?

SH: Nope. Not until the experiment is declared complete.

WE: unnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh

SH: Stop being a baby, Desmond. You can handle a few more days of this.

WE: I don't think I can as I watch my friend get eaten alive from THE INSIDE.  
WE: I was just watching AND I GOT SICK.  
WE: How long until that thing comes for me??

SH: It wouldn't do that to you.  
SH: It likes you too much.

 

Excuse? Like him? No, no, no, the Blacklight virus didn't like anyone except Alex. And with the day Desmond was screaming at it today, the possibility of it liking him was kinda shot to hell. Wait….No!

 

WE: NO! NO! NOOO!  
WE: Don't. Talk. About it. Like that.  
WE: It's not a living thing  
WE: It doesn't have feelings  
WE: It just eats! It's a little killing machine with one thing on its mind  
WE: Lunch

 

She didn't respond to him right away. Several times he saw the little bar at the bottom pop up to show she was typing, but just as many times it dropped away. Ugh, whatever she was typing, it was probably some big lecture on how unserious he was taking this and blah blah blah. Essentially the same shit Alex had been telling him since they were locked in here.

 

WE: You know what, never mind forget I said anything.

 

She finally responded to that;

 

SH: Regardless how you feel about the virus, you have to deal with it  
SH: If Alex's hypothesis is correct, it's going to get attached to him in more ways than one  
SH: So if you don't watch it, you're not just going to have a sad virus on your hands…

WE: But a sad Alex too  
WE: Great.  
WE: You're an incredibly reassuring person.

SH: I try my best.  
SH: Go play nice Desmond.

_StillHere has logged off_

 

"Biiiiiiitch" Desmond mutters under his breath as he turns the tablet off. He sets it aside and heaves himself off the couch to walk over to the bed to retrieve his pillow. That would have been the plan if Alex's head wasn't already on it. Fuck. Alex's own pillow was trapped under one of his arms, which Desmond wasn't even gonna attempt to try and grab. "Why do you do this to me?" he whispers, placing a knee down on the mattress and reaching out to grab his pillow out from under the scientist's head.

Alex let out a gasp, and in the dim light, Desmond could see his body pop up. Shit. "No no, shhh, Alex it's just me, shhh" and Desmond's hand reached up higher. Without really thinking about it, he bushes away raven black locks Alex's forehead, and he's carding his fingers through curled hair. Alex's body flattens again, and the other man is back to sleep. Desmond lets out a small sigh of relief.

As gently as he can, Desmond flips off the bed and just decides to sleep without his pillow.

* * *

 

It feels tired. So tired. Very tired. No energy. No will. It feels limp, and weak, and It has to drag itself through the Master's systems. Exhausted. Yes, that is the word to describe how It felt. It worked, so hard, so so hard. The hardest It ever has. And It was exhausting. For one so physically weak, the Master's immune system was so strong, so resistant. The immune system did not like It. Unfortunately for the immune system, It did not care. It was built to invade, receive, and remake. In the words of the Master that It did not fully comprehend yet, the immune system could go suck a dick. Whatever that was.

No dicks were sucked, but It it finally had to declare It's job done, and rest. It was tired. The Master was tired. They were both so tired. It did not mean to exhaust the Master. But It also certainly didn't expect to bring so much pain to the Master either. That could not be helped, It would hurt him either way. If only the Master and the Rich One didn't scream so much. If only It knew how to soothe, reassure, the pan was part of the process. It could not be any more gentle if It tried.

Soon, It would have the Master consumed. And the Master would be so pleased. It could already feel the Master's happiness at It's work. And tomorrow, tomorrow It would do so much more! Or perhaps the day after, the arms were such work. Hard work. Exhausting work. So tired. For now It had to focus on keeping the arms, building strength, resting…

The bed the Master lies on dips, and It panics for a moment, enough to jostle the Master awake. But the Master is quickly soothed back into sleep. This, It feels frustration at. The Rich One, poised over the Master, stroking his hair, shooshing him, lulling him back into peace. Why can't It feel that? The motions and actions of these blood sacks confused It so. But the Rich One, the Rich One was the main source of It's frustration. The Rich One was intoxicating to be near. So badly It wanted to be touched by the Rich One. To dive beneath his skin and feel every last bit of him. To take him apart and see how glorious he tasted.

Just to tear apart his blood and see the history behind it…

One day. Soon. It had the Master to take care of first, but one day, it would spread and achieve replication of the highest caliber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I wonder who that was.


	5. I Knew I Would Do Anything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure where I was going with this but….
> 
> Ladies, this one's for you. Happy Valentines' Day.

"I wonder if this is what it's like-"

"Don't you even-" 

"To give birth"

"You….should shut the hell up"

"I mean, it's a live thing, inside your body, trying to force its way out of you. Except in my case, my baby is trying to devour me first before it comes out"

"…..Dude you're fucking weird"

"Pain is clouding my judgement, sue me. Oh god, and I thought the arms were bad"

"Hey Lucy?" Desmond calls out to the ceiling. "If you're watching this, please come in here and smack him"

"Hey Desmond, I can break your legs too and we'll both be in pain" Alex suggested.

"Nah" Desmond shook his head. "I hope every woman working here is listening to you bitch and moan about this. Like, I hope they're eating popcorn like they're watching a movie. And laughing. Their. Fucking. _Asses_. Off"

Alex let out a pained cry and threw a pillow at him. This time, Desmond was smart enough to not give it back to him. This had been going on since they woke up that morning. Blacklight had been pretty quiet yesterday, allowing Alex to mostly just sleep off the day previous. But its short vacation ended and it was back to being hell on earth inside a human body. And it decided to go from top to bottom, so it started at the pelvis and worked its way down. Apparently it wasn't playing nice with Alex's….giblets and the likes.

Okay everything was getting roughed up down there. There weren't organs in the arms. But there were below the waist. And oh dear god, Alex would not shut the hell up about it. If this virus didn't kill him, Desmond _would_.  

"Hey Desmond, wanna see something weird?"

He hated that question. Every single time it was asked. But against his better judgement, Desmond looked over to see something weird. What he saw was Alex whipping the blanket off to reveal his lower half, or what was his lower half and he- Oh. OH.

"You stop that" Desmond ordered. "You stop that right fucking now before I go over there and see how much pain that thing can feel"

 "This is for all the ladies watching here today" Alex said with a pained grinned as he glanced up at the ceiling and gave it a wink. The lights in their room flickered rapidly.

"Thanks Lucy~"

Desmond got up from the couch, reaching down to pick up one of their tablets, walked over to the bed, and smashed said tablet down on the area the writhing, black mass that was formally Alex's manhood. It turned out, the virus, and subsequently Alex himself, could indeed, still feel pain down there. The resulting screams from that were totally worth it.

 


	6. To Take Your Hand and Make You Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slightly triggering content in this one. yes this one if you disregard the rest of the fic

_Day 6_

 

While yesterday had been a day of stupidity and amusement, today was far from it. Desmond was woken up that morning to the sound of vomiting. Alex had dragged himself to the bathroom to relentlessly expel the contents of his stomach. Except, when Desmond went over to look, there was a lot more in there than what he expected. Mostly blood. Lots, and lots of blood. The bowl was red. Alex had his forehead resting against the rim, his sides heaving as he let out short, wheezing gasps. His shirt had been thrown off, and Desmond could see it, Blacklight at work.

The virus could be seen moving around, pressing up against the skin as it rearranged body parts, broke them apart, replicated. There was a dull _snap_ as one of Alex's ribs disappeared from his side, and it really said something as neither of them so much as flinched anymore at such a sound. The only response to that was Alex heaving into the toilet bowl again.

Desmond grimaced at that, and moved forward to reach out to rub at the other man's back. He wasn't sure if he could really feel it, or if it would help, but the gesture alone had to mean something. Alex let out a small noise as he lifted his head up to glance over his shoulder. He looked like a complete wreck, ashen colored face with dark rings around his eyes. He looked like death warmed over.

"Hey buddy" Desmond said softly. "Wanna hear _my_ usual question?"

Those paler than normal blue eyes narrowed at him. Alex let out another noise and lowered his head back down to rest his forehead against cool porcelain.

"Yes" was Alex's answer that was just barely above a whisper. "Always"

Always. Always that same answer. Always the same thing. And like always, Desmond sighs. Sighs as he watches his friend's body destroy itself from the inside. Sighs as he knows he can't do anything about it.  Sighs, because it's only going to get worse from there. There's still so little he can do, so Desmond just crouches down on that bathroom floor and rubs Alex's back until the other man finally stops puking up the contents of his stomach and then some.

it's like taking care of a person who's hungover. Alex is far too unhealthy for this though. Desmond takes a good, long look at him, and finally notes just how thin his friend is. Blacklight just takes what it's provided and replicates. It wasn't adding weight, just imitating what was already there. When ribs are broken and put back into place, Desmond notes just how much they stick out. Just how shrunken in Alex's sides are. Notes how bony he looks, or as bony as biomass can look. When he finally takes Alex's hand in his own, it's alarming how easily he can wrap his fingers around Alex's wrists.

And it's all pale skin. Grayed mostly, with the ugliest of dark, black bruises. Except they aren't bruises, not when the skin on top moving up and down like a pulse. A pulse… "What are you-" Alex starts, but simply gives up as Desmond has two fingers pressed to his throat. It's faint, and soft, but it's there. A pulse. A pulse that suddenly rubs up against his fingers and pounds itself a little faster to imitate a more healthy sounding heart. But Desmond knows better. By this point, he's sure he knows way better.

"Alex you're dying" Desmond states. "And I mean it this time, I think you really are"

He doesn't get a reply. He wants to shout at Alex until he's hoarse. He wants to question him over and over, _is it still worth it?_ When did science end and self mutilation begin? When did this whole goddamn experiment end? When Abstergo had a _body_ to dissect? Desmond wasn't seeing much of a point in all of this anymore. It made him angry. The things these people would do just for the fucking hell of it.

So he pulls back, pulls Alex back until his back is against the wall, until he has Alex wrapped up in his arms. Alex's head lulls back until it's snug in the crook of his neck, and thin, bony hand is clinging to his shirt. 

"I might be" Alex finally whispers back. He doesn't say anymore, just lets himself be held and just clings. Desmond rests his cheek against the top of Alex's head, and sits with him until Alex feels the need to literally throw up his insides again. That on its own takes a long while. Instead he gets to listen to Alex's struggle for air, to slide a hand against a chest that deflates and re-inflates minutes later. To feel a distant _whump whump_ that gets quieter, more distant with each _whump_. 

_Whump whump….whump whump…….whump whump……….whump whump……….whump…….whump……….whump._

_Whump._

  _......_

 

"Alex?"

"…Yeah?"

"Nothing, just making sure you're alright"

"Okay…"

Alex closes his eyes and dozes for as much as he can before his body is kicked into gear again.

 

_End Day 6_


	7. But I Learned Long Ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be out of town for a few days, won't be updating until later in the week. See ya when I do!  
> Enjoy your new friend~

Something was squeezing his throat. He was having the greatest of difficulties breathing. His eyes snapped open, mouth dropping open to try and suck in air. The squeezing around his throat vanished, and was replaced was soft touches, a petting motion that seemed like it was trying to get rid of the pain caused previous.

"Sorry" a voice whispered to him. "I wanted to see how it worked"

Now the top of his head was being pet, _fingers_ running through his hair. He could only narrows his eyes to try and see who it was, but in the near dark, he find he couldn't focus. He fell back asleep moments later.

When Desmond woke up again, the room wasn't as dimmed. Without even glancing at his companion, he slipped out of the bed and into the bathroom to wash his face. Desmond let out a yelp when he saw himself in the mirror; dark bruises on his throat. He stared at his reflection in absolute shock before his brain caught up with him and he burst back into the room.

"Did you do this to me?" Desmond demanded.

Alex was sitting upright on the bed, staring down at the sheets he was rubbing between his fingers. He slowly looked up at Desmond to blink at him. His eyes were surprisingly clear today, wide, inquisitive. A look Desmond had never seen on him before.

"Yeah…" Alex replied, lowering his head again like a child that was being scolded. Desmond's shocked anger melted away, because was new. This _wasn't_ normal Alex behavior. Like now was not the time to be fucking with him.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Desmond asked warily. Alex didn't respond back to him, just kept fiddling with the sheets in his hands. "Alex! Hello, still talking to you"

"Oh" Alex gasped, looking back up at him. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Mercer's not here right now. He's sleeping still"

"What?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. He was really, really tired. So I'm here instead" he went on, now smiling. Actually smiling. Not a smirk, not a cocky grin. A genuine, happy smile. Desmond didn't think the muscles in that face knew how to do that. But wait, wait, wait. Wait. Dr. Mercer's not here right now? The hell did he mean by-

"Oh fuck" Desmond whispered. "Blacklight?!"

"Hi Desmond" Blacklight replied back, ducking his head back down and fidgeting in his spot as if he was embarrassed by this. "I don't mean to surprise you, I just thought you wouldn't mind if I hung out with you today instead of Dr. Mercer. If that's okay with you? I mean, it's not like I'm just gonna go away but you know…."

No. No. Nope. Nope to the tenth dimension. Dear fucking lord no. Without responding, Desmond slipped back into the bathroom, slammed locked the door. Holy fuck, holy fucking fuck, this wasn't happening. This was not happening. Alex was fucking with him. That was not the Blacklight virus speaking to him. The virus wasn't a sentient being that talked.

It was an all consuming virus that had most of the body of its creator replicated and could control like a puppet. Which kinda didn't make it any better.

"Desmoooooonnnnnnd" Blacklight whined at him from the other side of the door. "Come onnnnn. I promise I'll be goooood"

He sounded like a child that got his favorite toy taken away from him. Yeah okay, that definitely wasn't Alex anymore.

"Says the one who tried to choke me earlier!" Desmond yells back.

"I wanted to see how breathing worked. I forgot that you're weaker than me….."

Oh, psh, man. Yup that totally made up for it then. Gosh, how silly he felt. It was after all easy for anyone to just _forget_ how fragile people were compared to the man-sized virus. Well when he put it like that, he could just totally be forgiven. YEAH NO. NOOOO-OOOOOOHOHOHOOONO. Desmond back away from the bathroom door to the opposite wall, all the way in the shower, just to at least put as much distance between him and that…thing.

"Help me" Desmond whispers into the wall. "For the love of god please help me and get don't keep me in here with that. Experiment success, the virus has totally taken over. Now let me ouuuuut"

He doesn't get a reply, not that he expects one. Nothing happens. And nothing to continued to happen for god knows how long. The lights in the bathroom eventually become brighter and brighter on their own, Abstergo's dumb way of telling time for them because they couldn't be bothered with real clocks. What a fine way to spend the morning. Locked in the bathroom so Mr. Handsy wouldn't be near him. Gave him a lot of time to think, to plan and put things together. 

Blacklight had practically gone through the entire body. All it had left was everything above the neck. But if it was capable of talking to him and touching him of its own volition then it already had control of everything, right? Maybe it did it last night when they were both asleep and it could tear the last bit of Alex apart without them noticing. No, no, but Alex would have been screaming his head off if that did happen so then…How… 

There was only one way to find out.

 

* * *

 

 

Desmond took a breath as he placed his hand at the door handle. This, he actually had to work himself up to, mostly because he felt like if he messed up, he'd die. But he had to know. For science. And the good of mankind. And for Alex. For Alex. Yeah. He was already promised a good little virus so maybe…Yeah. Yeah no this was stupid. The second stupidest idea in the last couple days. Goodbye cruel world, another idiot was passing through.

He finally unlocked the door and pulled it open. Blacklight was back on the bed, playing with a tablet. His fingers were flying across it with ease as if he had been playing with one his entire life. His entire, two-month existence. Which made Desmond wonder just how much was being copied off of Alex. But that was something he'd have to focus on later.

"Hey Blacklight? he called out. Blacklight's head immediately snapped towards him. "Heeeeey buddy. Wanna do a science experiment?"

He looked like he had just been told they were going to Disneyland.

"Yes!" Blacklight cried. "I love science!"

Oh jesus.

"Hey me tooo!" Desmond forced a grin as he pushed himself out of the bathroom. "Wanna find me something pointy and sharp I can cut with?"

"Will this work?" and Blacklight's hand morphed and melded into sharp, black claws. Desmond's grin locked into place on his face as he mentally screamed to himself. He could have done that the whole time. This whole damn time that could have happened because there were no fucking bones or anything in his godddamn anything and oh god what the fuck did Alex do. At no point in time did Alex ever say his Frankenstein experiment could change shape like _that_.  

"Yeaaaaaah, just like that" Desmond made himself laugh at. "That'll work perfectly. Good thinking!"

Desmond mechanically walked over to the bed to (fuckfuckfcufk) grasp Blacklight's wrist. "Just work with me on this, okay?" he asked. Blacklight nodded enthusiastically, biting at his lips again and glancing down at Desmond's hand. He didn't take his eyes off it as Desmond brought the claw up to his face, turned it so the claws were facing him and…Slashed Blacklight's face open.

The skin easily tore open, bypassing blackened muscle and exposing bone. His cheekbone and jaw. Desmond could see his fucking teeth. Blood gushed down his face and chin to drip onto his shoulders. Desmond let go of claw to take a step back, shocked and disgusted that it was that easy. Blacklight hardly reacted, just sat there for a few moments before he did anything. The skin put itself back together with a wet sound. But it worked, now all Blacklight had was drying blood on his face.

"That was fun" Blacklight chirped. "What next?"

"Uhm" Desmond said intelligently. I think we're good…Let's get you cleaned up"

No argument. Blacklight happily followed him back into the bathroom. And there a real plan formed in Desmond's head. "Hey, why don't you hop into the shower? It might be easier this way" Desmond told him. The virus happily complied to stand in the shower and looked back at him expectantly. "Just look riiiight up here" Desmond instructed, pointing at the nozzle. He practically raced with the knobs, but got the water to come.

At full blast.

Blacklight hissed and jerked away. Desmond, without much of a choice, grabbed Blacklight's head to wrench his face back into the water. Blacklight let out a hellish scream that nobody, not even a virus, should have been capable of making. Desmond felt something…somethings wrap around his wrists and dig in, but he kept Blacklight right where he wanted him.

Blacklight coughed and sputtered, and the pain in Desmond's wrists was traveling up his forearms, and god it was becoming unbearable. They both dropped down to their knees, and sat there through some literal hell and high water until Blacklight stopped fighting back and screaming, and Desmond heard that in familiar growl; 

"What the…WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?"

Desmond let go of Alex's face, gasping at this point. Alex was staring back at him with his trademark glare. Desmond let out a ragged laugh.

"Hey buddy, welcome back to the world of the living"

"The fuck does that mean? What the fucking hell happened to your arms?!"

Desmond looks down. His forearms are covered in angry black and blue bruises shaped like whip marks. One of them the skin had broken, and blood was being washed off his arm. 

"At least ya didn't claw me to death" Desmond sighed.

"What?" Alex boomed. "Alright what in the fucking hell happened while I was asleep? You better start fucking explaining to me right now…."

 

* * *

 

 

_TwinDragons began chatting with StillHere_

 

TD:  Hello?

TD: Am I using this correctly?

TD: You are online aren't you?

TD:  o_o

 

SH: Alex?

 

TD: Oh you are here!

TD:  :D

TD: Desmond likes to use that one a lot. He's very happy most of the time I've deduced.

 

SH: ALEX??

 

TD: Oh sorry!

TD: Dr. Mercer's asleep right now.

TD: So it's just me.

TD:  :D

 

SH: How are you

SH: Talking to me?

 

TD: The same way Desmond and Dr. Mercer do?

TD: With their tablets and network chat system. It's rather easy to use I'm finding.

TD: But hello Lucy, it is nice to formally meet you.

 

SH: Nice…to meet you too.

SH: You're the Blacklight virus, aren't you?

 

TD: I am if that is what you wish to call me. Dr. Mercer and Desmond refer to me as just Blacklight most of the time so I assume you can do the same.

 

SH: Where's Desmond?

 

TD: Locked in the bathroom. I think he's scared of me.

TD:  D:

TD: See now it is a face a of unhappiness.

 

SH: So I do see…

SH: Why is Desmond scared of you?

 

TD: I may have accidentally choked him earlier when trying to see how you bloodsacks breathe.

TD: I'm sorry that's not a nice word to use. *Humans.

 

SH: Oh well yes, it's not a good idea to choke people. We need to be able to breathe.

 

TD: So I've concluded. I apologized to him but I don't think he accepted it.

TD: So i'm waiting for him to come back outside so I can spend time with him, as you humans would say

 

SH: I'm sure he'll come around eventually

 

TD: I hope so too. I didn't want him to be lonely when Dr. Mercer was asleep. D:

 

SH: That's very sweet of you, Blacklight

 

TD: Thank you :D

 

SH: But what do you mean by "Dr. Mercer is alseep"?

 

TD: He is asleep in a metaphorical sense if you wish to call it that

TD: His mind is not active at the moment. He has no control of our body right now. And I do not wish to rouse him. He needs his rest very badly.

TD: And I do not wish to do anymore work when he is so tired.

 

SH: I see

SH: Is this the first time you have assumed direct control of your body like this?

 

TD: Yes!

TD: Dr. Mercer is very, very busy and he needs control of us all the time to get his work done

TD: But I figured since he is resting today, I can be in control instead. It won't hurt anyone. I think.

TD: Well it kinda hurt Desmond but again, I was just curious.

 

SH: That's very interesting.

SH: Have you been able to do this at a lesser degree?

 

TD: I always have been, but I tried not to. The nervous system and I do not get along.

TD: It screams at me constantly  and it's a lot of work to make it be quiet.

TD: So many nerve endings I had to tie up. I didn't realize the brain would be this upset with me if I took away all the nerves in the body

TD: It has no where to send all those orders

 

SH: Oh well um

SH: Sorry you weren't warned about that

 

TD: It's okay! When Dr. Mercer wakes up, the brain and the nervous system will no longer be a problem for me

TD: Plus, I already have most of the spine consumed. With the brain gone, I can get rid of the whole spine and we will be completely integrated and testing can begin

TD: ^_^ see it's a just as happy face that Desmond also likes to use.

 

SH: And um, how long until then?

 

TD: I can have it done whenever is most convenient for the team. The soonest I can is about…fifty hours, give or take.

 

SH: We'll be ready

SH: Maybe give us a warning ahead of time?

SH: Blacklight?

 

_TwinDragons has gone idle_

_TwinDragons has been idle for 1 hours_

_TwinDragons has been idle for 2 hours_

_Twin Dragons has been idle for 3 hours_

_TwinDragons is available_

 

SH: Are you back?

 

TD: What?

TD: Hold on I'm gonna backread

 

SH: Alright.

SH: Good morning, Alex.

 

TD: Shit.

TD: Yeah, hi Lucy

TD: Goddammn why does he have to type like Desmond?

 

SH: It's funnier when I think of you making those emotes

 

TD: Fucking shoot me.

TD: Did you see everything that happened?

 

SH: No but I can go review the tapes.

 

TD: I didn't think he would do that. I honest to god didn't.

TD: I let my fucking guard down for one damn minute

TD: And I wake up in the shower with Desmond about to tear my face off.

 

SH: It's not your fault, Alex

SH: He's just a bit smarter than we anticipated he would be.

SH: Is Desmond okay?

 

TD: He will be.

TD: Blacklight likes him too much to want to kill him

TD: I think…

 

SH: We'll take our chances.

SH: Try and talk to him if you can

SH: If he can behave the we'll let you three into the gym to mess around

 

TD: I will

TD: When he's done being a big baby, I can feel him sulking.

 

SH: Just try not to kill each other.

 

TD: Yeah.

 

_TwinDragons has ceased chatting with StillHere_


	8. You Love Someone You Have to Let It Go

_You should go back to sleep._

"Sorry, but Dr. Mercer isn't here to listen to you right now. If you'd like to make an appointment , you could call in and then go fuck yourself"

He doesn't mean to be hostile, or as hostile as he can get with muttering under his breath. Sleep is the last thing on his mind, despite how he felt ready to just flop down and take another fifteen hour nap. But Alex is completely done with sleep. Why sleep when he didn't have a body to rest? At this point, being tired and feeling sleepy were things that his brain was used to telling him. If anything, it needed to tell Blacklight to go to sleep-

_Let's both sleep. Together. Sound good?_

"Just stop" Alex whispers to himself. "Stop while you're ahead"

_A head?_

Not what he meant at all but- ALRIGHTY. Man, that hurt! Alex ground his teeth together as pain lanced across his face, slouching in his seat and taking deep breaths of air he didn't need anymore. He could practically pinpoint it; behind the left eye and into his eardrum. Unfortunately, this wasn't new. This had been going on since his conversation with Lucy. He could practically feel the big, smug grin hiding behind his own lips. Blacklight was such a child. Where he learned this behavior, Alex could only guess at. Of course, he highly suspected it all came from watching the only other occupant in the room.

It was completely uncalled for and hurt like a fucking bitch. Despite that Alex didn't even have feeling in most of his body anymore, the pain produced in his head was unimaginable. There was no barrier stopping or anything stopping Blacklight from just taking a couple taps at his various lobes and such and just jamming his knives for fingers into them to see what made Alex tic. In the last few days, Alex had had his leg suddenly start shaking, or his hands start wigging out, or something of that nature.

Nerves, Blacklight had said. The nervous system, what an odd thing it was to something that could shift and change form completely at will and only seemed to posses thought and not much else- And OH THERE WAS THE PAIN AGAIN. This time in his back, or what was left of it. Alex let out a low hiss of pain and doubled over.

_Sorry, my apologies, that wasn't on purpose this time. Getting the last bits of your spine, you should probably lie down._

On the cold, hard floor. Wonderful.

_Dr. Mercer, may I recommend you lying on the bed? it will be far more comfortable for you._

But Desmond was already there. But Alex was awake. So maybe…Just for the hour it would take. If Blacklight could behave himself…

_Dr. Mercer, taking you apart is exhausting. And I wish to not deal with Mr. Miles again any time soon.  I swear on our mother's eventually-to-be-filled grave that I willy only focus on you._

"What a compelling argument you make" Alex mutters under his breath. He wasn't given much of a choice, as his legs began to carry him away on their own accord. Alex snarls and digs his feet in, and he stops moving. "And for that, we're going to the couch"

He can practically see Blacklight pout as he walks them to the couch and he lies down on it. But the pain in his back soon resumes, and he's left to hiss and groan in pain as he's being devoured from the inside. The pain isn't enough to knock him out (thankfully), like it normally did. With so little receptors left for pain, he's delighted to know that he can actually stay awake for the terrible and horrible process that was the break down of his body.

It's still a long, long process, and Alex spends the rest of the night sitting in the dark waiting for everything to pass.

 

* * *

 

 

_Day 8_

 

"Ahahahaha! Oh my goooood"

"Shut up. You shut your fucking mouth right now"

"You looking stupid as hell, dude!"

"I can go take a nap ya know. Let ya have fun working out with Blacklight?"

Desmond stops laughing at him (out loud), and just resorts to snicker behind his hands. The team, as lovely as they were, decided Alex needed clothing that wouldn't limit the virus' strength and abilities, so they gave him clothing that would be the best suited for that. Which mean a sleeveless tank top and impossibly short shorts. He looked ready to go run a marathon instead, and he felt utterly ridiculous. Desmond laughing at him didn't help any, and he still felt tempted to go lie down and let Blacklight take control. Have him chase Desmond around the gym for a few hours.

"Alright team, open the damn door already so before I slaughter this buffoon" Alex shouts at the ceiling. There's an affirmative beeping that echoes through their room, and the door, that had once closed and sealed them inside this room, opened up once more.

Into the rest of the facility, they didn't go. Instead, the door opened up into the facility's gym. Which Alex didn't remember being so big, nor connected to their room. Then again, Abstergo were wizards when it came to science-fiction bullshit with moving rooms around without the occupants knowing.

_Space wizards, Dr. Mercer. Who drink beer with the lizard people. Desmond says so._

"Don't you even start" Alex mutters under his breath as they walk into the gym.

"What?" Desmond asks him.

"Not talking to you, Desmond"

"Oh…Wait, then- Nevermind"

Something to remember; Desmond can't hear the second voice in Alex's head. So it would be super incredibly helpful for that second voice to shut the fuck up unless spoken to.

_No promises._

"Let's just do this already" Alex growls, and their exercise begins.

There are various exercise machines set up, ropes from the ceiling, and a rock climbing wall. Clearly, no expensive was spared. And hopefully with that in mind, the equipment wouldn't break easily. Blacklight's strength was relatively untested, and it was unknown as to how its strength matched up with that of its host. Which wouldn't be much in Alex's case. Alex didn't get out much, and his only real form of exercise was pacing around his lab.

The first machine Alex steps on, the treadmill, makes a worrisome creaking noise as if some gigantic weight had settled on it. Alex and Desmond share a concerned look, but what can they do? Alex turns the treadmill on, and the speed he sets doesn't seem to be enough. The belt is dragging under his feet, so he speeds it up. And up. And up, and way up until it cannot be set any higher. In the end the treadmill just stops working all together, and they just move on.

"Man, the rope" Desmond whistles. "Just like being in high school all over again"

"Yes, except it's only less embarrassing when you can't climb it" Alex muses.

"See ya at the top then" Desmond laughs, and begins the climb. Alex pulls himself onto the rope, only for the rope to snap immediately land him on his ass. "Holy shit dude!" Desmond cries.

_Dr. Mercer, I have a suggestion. A much better alternative_

"All ears" Alex mutters.

_Raise your arm up._

Alex does so, hand pointed at the top where the rope used to be attached. The skin on his arm blackens and bulges, and in a red static, suddenly extends and shoots up to latch itself to the ceiling. And it lifts him off his feet, and up he goes until he's eye level with a very shocked Desmond.

"This is new" Alex says to him, and suddenly smiles in realization. "See, he has more mass to work with. New forms to take on. Fucking brilliant"

Desmond's eyes are bugging out his head, with his dumb jaw slack. Alex lets out a dark laugh, and pulls down on his shoulder. His arm detaches itself from the ceiling, and he falls back to the ground with an earth shattering thud. The very floor beneath him has cracked. He can already hear Vidic screaming at him and how the repair money will come out of his non-existent paycheck.

"Come on, dear assistant, let's see what else this bad boy can do" Alex chuckles, and reaches back up to pluck Desmond off his rope. Desmond lets out a loud cry as the virus wraps around him and pulls him down, but he's back on solid ground in a matter of moments completely unharmed.

"Don't. Fucking. Do that. To me" Desmond all but manages to spit out. Alex is all grins as he starts to pull Desmond towards the climbing wall. "No, no, let's not. This isn't exercise, this is Twilight Zone shit. Alex, please"

"Oh don't be a baby, this is very important scientific research happening here" Alex explains.

"Uhhh no? It's just you being creepy as shit!"

"It's not creepy"

"Oh yeah?" and Desmond pulls himself away from him. "Then get up that wall. Go, do it all by yourself. No creepy…black claw…tentacle shit"

"How descriptive" Alex rolls his eyes. But he locks onto the wall, feeling his arms and legs practically flex in anticipation.

_Just run, Dr. Mercer_

So he does. Takes off running at a blinding speed, then suddenly running up the wall. The actual side of the wall, vertically as if he was running on flat ground. Before he knows he, Alex is gripping to the top of the wall, and he looks over his shoulder to watch a dumbfounded Desmond fall back in astonishment.

"Your turn" Alex calls down to him. Desmond just shakes his head, no way in hell was he even gonna try, Alex just laughs some more at him.

It's honestly the best he's felt in a while. He knows that wasn't gonna last long.

 

_End Day 8_


	9. The Hardest Part of Letting Go

_Day 9_

 

"So….have you ever seen a cat in heat before?"

_Thump_

"Like, a big cat in heat who just really wants to get laid?"

_Whump_

"Caaaaaause dude, that's what you look like right now. Except you're high tripping hard on something and you'd lost your center of gravity"

_Shoomp_

"You know" Desmond continues to muse to himself as Alex rockets off another wall. "This would be a lot more fun, if I was tripping hard with you, and you don't look like you're about to explode"

Alex peels himself off the wall he launched himself into it, eyes still wide, body still visibly shaking, skin bulging as he takes off again across the room to crash into the table. He had been doing that all day, bouncing off everything like a lemur with a sugar high. Except he wasn't a lemur and this wasn't at all adorable. Alex hadn't said an actual word all day, and had been shape-shifting like crazy and just could not stand still. The most Desmond had gotten from him were various, strangled noises and that was really just about it.

Desmond himself, was sitting in the one spot in the room Alex couldn't seem to land on, and just sat there and watched the scientist sail over his head. He concluded there was nothing he really could actually do about it. Knowing Alex could change his arms and hands into giant whips and claws and other various…sharp looking things, he didn't bother with trying to catch him and hold him down to knock some sense back into his head.

But with the way Alex would sometimes pause to clutch at his head, Desmond also concluded it was probably a sense thing, something going on in his head that he couldn't control. Some sort of internal battle with Blacklight that they were both losing. Alex had explained it to him yesterday, something about his nervous system and being taken over and something something something technical, something, SCIENCE. 

So he didn't actually understand _what_ was going on, but it was weird, and kinda freaky, but he didn't know what to do about it. There was a loud crash, and Desmond looked over to see Alex on the ground, convulsing violently, some of the virus pulsating out of his skin and tearing through his clothing.

"How ya doing over there, buddy?"

Alex responded with a sound akin to a squirrel being disemboweled alive. 

"Alright, that's good! Don't hurt yourself, kay?"

Alex took off across the floor to be a creepy hamstery thing that could be threatening towards one's shoes. And then rolled onto his back, and somehow, and Desmond wasn't sure, but somehow launched himself up to cling to the ceiling. And he wasn't coming down. Desmond waited a full, mental minute before he panicked because he felt that somehow Alex had actually gotten himself stuck up there and didn't know how to get back down.

"Hold on buddy, I'm comin for ya!" Desmond cries as he scrambles up to stand. That's really as far as he gets as he realizes that the ceiling is a lot higher than he thought it was. Desmond was tall, yes, but reaching up, his fingers didn't even so much as brush against his friend. "Uhhhh, dude you wanna like, go all Spider-Man over the bed or something? It'll be way easier to get ya down from there"

Man this sucked ass.

 

* * *

 

 

It was chaos. Just pure chaos. And neither one of them knew how to deal with it. The brain was a puzzle, a very tricky, sensitive puzzle. When he tried to take away a piece, the whole thing practically fell apart. Try to add one in, it didn't fell well and he had to mold it to fit in while the puzzle again, fell apart until the new piece finally snapped in and things were back in order. For a moment, at least. He thought this would be easy, everything else had been so far, why would the brain be any different?

But those nerve endings, that giant powerhouse of knowledge and energy and memories, it panicked the moment he cut its cord from the rest of the body. But there was no longer a body for it to control, and thus it was lost, a scared animal locked in a cage that could only lash out from between the bars. But it was powerless with nothing to do other than cry.

And cry it did, and he didn't know how to make it stop. He wasn't a good replacement for what he took away from it, and it was so hard trying to take sort of control without accidentally damaging Dr. Mercer any more than he already had. The plan was to just consume and assume, not completely eradicate his host. 

(At least, not yet.)

But Dr. Mercer's mind was more fragile than he could have possibly imagined. He could touch one thing and something else would be triggered, and then it would be a practical meltdown. It was worrying yet rather enticing to see all of it. For as much of a genius as Dr. Mercer was…oh…oh he was so _weak_. Which made things, so much easier to deal with, on an emotional level at least. The certain kinds of memories that he repeatedly, "accidentally", kept triggering, kept making Dr. Mercer relive over and over again…Things locked away so far in the mind, to finally be dug up and see the light of day once more.

The screaming. The crying. The sobbing. So foreign. So new.  But _so_ delicious. If he knew this is what it took to break his creator's resolve, then he would have done this much, much sooner. The problem of assuming direct control was still challenging. Still so much screaming. So much noise. Where did it end and where did it begin again? Who was screaming the loudest? All the impulses with no where to go?

Or the mind of a dead man?

 

* * *

 

 

He came back into being with a strangled gasp, everything out of focus, but he just knew he was there. He had finally snapped back into reality. There was a bed under his back, bedsheets clawed in his hands, and a Desmond hovering over him, saying something, something, something…

"Alex? Dude are you back? Alex? Hey, Alex!"

Alex.

What was an Alex?

Sounded important.

What was-

Oh.

Oh wait.

Oh that was right.

He was Alex.

Alex makes another noise and tries to sit himself up. He finds he has no real energy to do so. He can't tell if it's because he's so tired, or because Blacklight's asleep and took all bodily function with him. But Desmond helps him up, bundles him up in blankets, and in the end, Alex is using Desmond's chest as a support beam, and his shoulder as a pillow. He wishes he could sleep. Sleep where his mind was blank and the world revolved without him for a couple hours. Where it was just darkness, and no thoughts or dreams. He longed for those days when he could do that. But now he wishes for a _permanent_ , dark sleep.

He focuses instead, on Desmond. The way he can feel shift in place, the sound of his breathing, the underlying rush of his blood, the beating of his heart. If he closes his eyes and focuses, Alex can hear it all. It's so calming to him, so soothing. Just maybe he can forget for a little bit…

"Alex"

No.

Please.

"What happened?"

He can talk still, can't he? For some reason, Alex feels as if he tried to talk, his voice would be scratchy and rough from all the crying. He felt like he had cried, and cried, and cried so hard. And screamed, and screamed, and screamed until his voice was hoarse. And it takes him a few moments to find some sort of audible voice to speak back in.

"Everything" Alex answers, and it's the honest truth. He felt like everything did happen to him, all at once, and it was the most painful thing in the world. Things he was sure he had forgotten, feelings he was sure he had locked away…They were all brought up, ran through a shredder, and blown out into the wind for him to remember and feel again and yet, it was him to woke up into a body that wasn't his anymore. "Why? What happened with you?"

"Oh dude, where I begin?" Desmond says with a sigh and a shake of his head. "You went crazy. Mental. Batshit insane. You were literally bouncing off walls, and you clung to the ceiling for a while until you finally just screamed and passed out. It was scary. You were…And I just…I dunno man. Crazy shit happened"

And Alex can accept that. He believes him. It would normally be something he'd feel the need to look into. But that need was gone. Long gone. He didn't have that need anymore. Instead he other things to worry about-

_You'resoungratefulyoulittleshityoushouldbethankfulIeverbotherwithyou-_

_You'regonnacomehomethisweekaren'tyou?Pleasedon'tleavemeherewithherforever-_

_I'msorryIloveyouIdo,butit'soverwithus.We'redoneandit'stimetomoveon.I'mleavingyou-_

_-_ Like all those things he tried so hard to not remember. Those things he didn't have the need to keep in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo there may or may not be only 2-3 chapters left to write for this story….so……Thanks for reading! All of you! I really do appreciate it!


	10. Is Saying Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Something's under my skin. Something's very strange, playing with my mind, tempting me to do you in" -Black Curtains; Megadeth

_Day 10_

 

Sleep isn't an option anymore. Lying in the dark staring at the ceiling is. Holding himself tightly, fingers digging into his skin, jaw clenched tight. It's not that he feels tired, he doesn't, but Alex is scared to even think about closing his eyes for a moment. He doesn't feel strong enough to keep himself conscious, to keep himself in control and at the forefront of their mind. He's still reeling from yesterday's events, Blacklight still somewhere in the back of their mind sleeping it all off. That or, just being incredibly quiet…

…

…

Probably asleep then. Worrying and relieving at the same time.  Worrying because Blacklight always had some choice words to say to him, but relieving because he doesn't have to hear any of it. Alex isn't sure he even wants Blacklight active right now anyway. Or even ever again. Or maybe just until he calms down and stops tearing the small shreds that was Alex Mercer into smaller pieces. Or maybe there wasn't anything left to tear up and Blacklight was just being merciful before he went in for the final kill (ha, merciful).

How long did it normally take? For a virus to assume complete control, and destroy its host? And long until it became the host? But for long until it spread to something else? He should know these things, Alex realizes. He made the damn thing, he should know how it works, and what it will do, what it can do. So far everything had gone horribly according to plan, and then some. He should know how his own creation works.

So why can't he think up what it can and can't do? Why can he think about it, but not _think_ about it? It's an uncomfortable feeling, and without realizing it, he whines in utter distress.

"Alex" Desmond suddenly murmuers. The bed dips slightly as Desmond rolls over, and Alex, even with the dim lighting, can see Desmond's eyes creak open ever so slightly. "Go to sleep" Desmond mumbles, eyes sliding back shut.

"I'm sorry" Alex apologizes, knowing full well there's nothing he can do about it, knowing arguing with a sleepy Desmond won't get him much. Arguing at all won't get them anything. Just the thought of that is enough to deter him from attempting it. Desmond half sighs, half yawns, and suddenly his arm is reaching out to Alex. 

"C'mere" Desmond mumbles, and without hesitation, Alex scoots over to be wrapped up in Desmond's arm. He squirms all the over until his face is pressed against Desmond's chest. Desmond falls back asleep within moments, with Alex remembering a scene so achingly familiar to this.

("Aleeeex"

"Go back to bed, Dana"

"I can't! There's a monster under it!"

"They're not real. Go back to bed"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Dana…"

"Pleaaaase?"

"…Fine. Come here")

Was that how his sister used to feel? Like some invisible, intangible force was preventing her from something? And that only her big brother could stop it? Alex's monster he could not see nor touch, but his monster was oh so very real, hiding not under the bed but in the forefront of his mind. His older brother, his _protector_ , no brother but someone he held dear and relied on to keep him safe...

As safe as he could be kept when the only danger here was himself. Alex didn't want to dwell on that, didn't want to plant any ideas in his shared mind for a certain virus to see and twist and pull at. Perhaps clearing his mind is better. The only way he finds to do so, is just sit and listen. So close to Desmond, he can hear everything. Every time a muscle twitches,  his breathing, the beating of his heart, the rush of his blood. If Alex stays still, his hand pressed against his friend, he can _feel_ everything.

It's soothing, it's calming, and it's comforting. It feels utterly relieving. He could spend forever right there. Hell, maybe he would just fall asleep right then and there, so safe, so secure. It was almost too bad Blacklight wasn't awake, he'd kill for a moment like this-

_He'd kill for a moment like this._

Calm and comforting feelings are all gone. Without a sound and with little disturbance, Alex slips out of the bed and away from Desmond. As far away as possible. He snatches up a tablet from the table to go sit in the corner of the room, and waits. The wait is agonizing, he can't make time go faster. He turns on the tablet, and gets to work. Time. It's only a matter of time before Blacklight wakes up, fully recharged and ready to roll.

Stupid, Alex feels so stupid. It was right there in front of his face the entire time. Was he just so far removed from his own ambitions that he didn't see this? Or was the wool pulled over his eyes early on and it was just now he caught it. Scared, he also feels scared. Scared is an emotion he rarely feels, but it's not himself he's scared for. It's Desmond. It's always been Desmond. Desmond fucking Miles. Everyone wanted him. Alex had wanted him, at some point. The perfect test subject, the best samples, the best everything. Desmond was a good assistant, worming some sort of friendship out of him. Alex never thought about him _that_ way though.

But Blacklight did.

Time still wasn't going fast enough. The more Alex typed and typed and typed, the faster time seemed to go, but it wasn't enough. When would anyone be awake? Who would be the first to get to their computer and get online? Who could he tell first?

( _Talk?Sincewhendoyouwannatalk?Youneverhavetimetotalk,especiallywithme.It'slikeIdon'tevenexisttoyouanymore_ )

No.

Alex has to clench his jaw tight, has to curl into himself as the memories come flooding in, his sister's harsh voice echoing in his ears. Now is not the time for that.

( _Let'sfaceitwedon'thavetimeforeachotheranymore.We'rebothsobusy,it'llbebetterthiswayforthebothofus_ )

No, no it won't, it never got better for the both of them. She never came back. Not to him. Those memories too, Karen's soft voice, that sad look on her face, how her hand was tight around the doorknob. Ready to run, to sprint, to just leave him. It's the trigger that opens the floodgates. Everything comes pouring back in. It's a little easier to deal with, the second time around. It's less shocking, but still just as painful.

Alex was finally able to somewhat snap back into reality when the lights began to brighten considerably. Everything in his mind fades to a blur, just white noise, and he scrambles for the tablet he dropped some time during his memory flooding. Focus is something he can't seem to do, between blurring vision and the static in his head, Alex is agonizingly slow to open up a chat with someone on the company's system.

"Hey, Alex!"

His head snaps up to blink in confusion at his roommate. Desmond is awake, standing, about ready to head to the bathroom. Desmond just sorta stares at him, makes a face, and goes about his business. "Never mind, you look busy being insane" Desmond calls out over his shoulder. Busy being insane. Oh how right he was.

"I'm trying to save you, idiot" Alex mutters to himself.

_Save him from what?_

"You" Alex snarls, carefully scrolling through his contacts list.

_What about me?_

"It's over"

_What's over?_

"Everything"

 

* * *

 

 

_TwinDragons began chatting with StillHere_

TD: lucy its o ver  
TD: Im calin g it  
TD: experiment complet  
TD: infction sucsess  
TD: op en door  
TD: now

SH: Alex what's going on?  
SH: What do you mean it's over? We haven't talked to Vidic about it yet.

TD: desmnd is gonna die  
TD: blcklight gonna consme him

SH: How do you know?

 

_TwinDragons is typing_

_TwinDragons is typing_

 

SH: Alex?

TD: Dr. Mercer isn't in right now. But if you'd like to make an appointment, I'd be happy to help you   
TD: never

 

_TwinDragons has ceased chatting with StillHere_

 

SH: ALEX

 

* * *

 

 

He's violently ripped away from himself. It's almost as if there was a phantom hand on his shoulder and he's being pulled back. And he gets to watch, as his body comes to life without him. Alex gets to watch, his hands clench the tablet tight, and suddenly snap it in half and toss it aside. Alex gets to watch, his body stand, and move on its own accord. He gets to watch himself not be in control.

"This is what happens" his voice says to an empty room. "When I leave you be for a couple hours. You suddenly turn against me"

 _"This isn't what you were for!"_ Alex roars. _"We never agreed to this!"_

"Change of plan. Sorry doc, but I can't let him get away, Not when he's right here" Blacklight replies back, and Alex can feel that mad grin on his face. "What did you expect me to do? The most desirable sack of blood…Sack of DNA in the whole company. Locked in a room. With me. You've forgotten my true purpose, Doctor"

_"Your purpose was not to kill him!"_

"My purpose was to consume, assume, replicate, and create. Just think of what I could do with him. All that genetic memory, I'd be unstoppable, don't you think?"

"Think what?"

Their attention snaps to a freshly showered Desmond Miles, all dressed for the day. He flinches when they turn around so quickly, and gives them a worried look. "Uh, Alex? You feelin okay buddy?"

The mad grin only grows wider.

"Oh Dessykins~"

Alex watches Desmond's eyes grow impossibly wide, and his face pale considerably.

"Wanna do a science experiment?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Desmond Miles, happy birthday to you! Managed to get this one out right on time!


	11. Fettered Away in a Makeshift Cell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoooo, heeey there! It's still Rastanton94, just ditching an old penname I've used for everything since like, '06. So I changed it to something COOLER and BETTER. Yeaaah! So don't worry, same guy writing these stories for you!

Good thing he hadn't eaten breakfast yet, because Desmond felt he would have shit his pants. Even on an empty stomach, he feel like he could. That slasher smile, combined with the way he was greeted…Sometimes he wish he could keep his big mouth shut and not just butt into something.

"Nope!" was Desmond's reply to that offer, and he immediately turned tail to run back into the bathroom of safety. He probably never would have made it if it was someone else after him. Desmond felt something wrap around his ankle and pull back, causing him to slam down into the ground.

"Dessykins, the experiment is over heeeere. Water not included~" Blacklight laughed at him, and began to reel him back in. Desmond could only claw at smooth flooring, finding nothing to cling on to until he was dragged past the table. He reached out and held tight to a table leg, wincing as his leg was suddenly jerked backwards. "Tsk tsk tsk. Resting won't get you anywhere, except maybe a broken bone" Blacklight scolded him. Whatever was wrapped around his ankle tightened even harder, and the pull on it started to lessen.

_Tap tap tap_

Shit, fuck, no, no, no. Think fast think fast think fast- Weren't these detachable?

"I need the table to let go" Desmond suddenly yells.

"You should let go of- FUCK"

There's an affirmative beep that echoes through the room, and the table comes away from the floor. Desmond lets it go as it sails over him to smack into the virus that was reeling him in like a fish. There's a large crash, and the pressure around his ankle disappears. Desmond pulls his leg back in and jumps up to his feet to run away again.

"You think their little tricks are going to help you?" Blacklight snarls at him, throwing the remains of the table aside.

"Absolutely!" Desmond cries, vaulting over the bed to it between him and the advancing virus. Alex was always a scary motherfucker when he was unbelievable enraged and flying off his fucking handle because some unfortunate event pushed him off the deep end. And right now? The face was the same, but the erupting spikes and claws and tendrils all over his arms, large dog snarl, he looked ten times more frightening than usual. 

"Come on I thought you liked tricks" Desmond continues. "I mean, I'm full of them" and he bends down to lift the bed up on its side. It's the beautiful thing about Abstergo technology (which was actually stolen from another now dead company who were experts at on the fly innovation), that everything was automated, everything could move, and everything could potentially save your ass.

Desmond kicks the bed and watches it fly forward to smack into the virus. The tracks are grinding extra hard to keep the bed pressed up against his attacker, and after a moment the tracks stop. And then a second after that, a black arm with white claws smashes through the center of the bed. "I'm gonna throw the fucking couch at you if you don't fucking stop that" Desmond threatens in a panicked voice.

"Don't even bother" Blacklight's muffed voice growls at him. And the arm shoots out at him, claws extended and ready to grab him like those stupid crane machine games. Desmond has little time to move, the claws sinking into his shoulder and holding fast. Desmond can only hiss in pain as those claws break past skin, letting out a sharp gasp as the claws curl, ripping in. Blacklight tears his way through the rest of the bed and advances on him.

The other arm comes up to catch Desmond around the throat, the claws on his shoulder pulling away. Desmond's hand comes up to try and pull the claw away from his throat, but Blacklight hardly budges. He feels hot. Unbelievably hot. Blacklight is a fucking furnace, burns to the touch.

A half-struggling Desmond watches, as the other, bloodied claw is brought up to the virus' face and licked clean. Blacklight makes a disgustingly content face, running his tongue over his lips over and over.

"Oh Dessy" Blacklight purrs, eyes sliding close. "Better than I imagined. I can't wait to see what the rest of you tastes like" and those eyes open again, suddenly more red than blue with a predatory glint to them. Thaaat wasn't supposed to happen. At least Desmond felt sure that wasn't supposed to happen. Oh god what the fuck couldn't this virus do?

"If you strike me down" Desmond chokes out. "I will come back…More powerful than you can possibly imagine"

"Oh that's the plan" Blacklight chuckles darkly as he draws nearer and nearer until they're practically sharing the same breathing air (if the virus could breathe). "Don't you think it would be fun? The two of us? Together? An unstoppable force?" and his voice lowers down to a whisper. "We could _anything_ together. We could go anywhere. Who's gonna stop us? Your little Assassin's? Abstergo's washed up Templars?" and he's even closer now, so close, Desmond can feel the heat radiating from that stupid mouth of it.

"You know it's so funny" and that licked clean claw is back to ch so carefully caress Desmond's cheek. "He always liked you, you know? Too bad he never had a chance to tell you. But if you be a good boy, I'll let you two be together. Forever"

"Alex doesn't like anybody" Desmond mutters, flinching as the tips of those claws prick at his skin.

"These last few days say otherwise" Blacklight chuckles. "Wanna see?"

Desmond doesn't get to say anything to that. Any negative or witty comebacks are silenced when Blacklight covers his mouth with his own. How did Blacklight know what kissing was? What kind of memories was it reading? Did fucking Alex think about this enough for Blacklight to know?

_Did Alex actually like him?_

The hand that was still trying to pull the claw away from his throat slid off to fall back to Desmond's side. Desmond Miles, bleeding from one shoulder, a giant virus on his lips, sits and waits. Indulges a little, just to keep the big guy happy. He turns his palm, taps his fingers against the wall. He could use something right now. Anything really. Preferably sharp. With his other hand, Desmond waves, or just sorta waggles his fingers, hoping someone's watching the camera feed.

(And why the fuck haven't they come to bust him out of here yet? Mr. Walking Virus here was getting a tad bitey)

_Shit what the fuck was he thinking here?_

Blacklight pulls off him with a wet pop, and it's curious to see him suddenly so flushed, like a teenager who just had his first kiss. Which, he basically was, and yeah, Desmond could work with this.

"Oh, you're not bad" Desmond complements. "Where'd ya learn all that? Been looking into Alex's memories huh?"

Blacklight just smiles at him, a very unsettling smile, that's all teeth, so much teeth, way too many teeth. "I told you" the virus says. "All week long"

Desmond feels something against his hand along the wall. His hand just suddenly _dips_ into the wall, and something cool and metallic is pressed into his palm. The answer to his prayers?

"What an intense week it must have been for you" Desmond sighs. "You know, I think, I owe you an apology

"I'm listening"

"I acted badly towards you"

"Oh I know you did"

"And you have every right to be mad at me"

"Oh yes I do"

"If I do stay here, with you, forever, can you find it in your rotten little heart to forgive me?"

"Yesss" and Blacklight's leaning back in again, way way in again. "Just the three of us, on top of the world"

That mouth of teeth opens up again, and if Desmond didn't stab the knife into Blacklight's arm, he surely would have been consumed right there and then. Blacklight lets out an enraged howl, letting go of Desmond to pull the knife out and crush it in his hand. Except, it's not a knife like Desmond thought. It's a syringe, that once held dark, red liquid that splatters over Blacklight's claws.

"What" they both seem to say in equal amounts of confusion. Blacklight wags his hand around to get the liquid off. The liquid does not come off, but rather, it just stays right there on him. Blacklight screeches again, visibly tensing up, desperately trying to get it off him. But it doesn't, and Desmond watches those ghastly claws dissipate into a normal hand again, the inky black spikes on the whole arm turning pink once more.

_"You"_

Blacklight is giving the most deadliest glare to ever be glared. "What did you do to me?"

Desmond only shrugs, fuck if he knows, but it worked! But not fast enough, as the other arm, the one still inky black and clawed, snaps out to grab him and hurl him across the room. The room flies by in a spiral of white, and Desmond crashes into the floor and the remains of the table. Everything is spinning as he lies there, trying to get his bearings. He can hear Blacklight howling and screeching at him, "Whatdidyoudotmewhatdidyoudotomewhatdidyoudotome?!"

_Phwssssshh_

It suddenly sounds like gas is being let out, and the room becomes just slightly more pink. Desmond realizes that yes, there is a dark, pinkish haze filtering into the room.

"NOOO" he can hear Blacklight wailing. "NO NO, YOU FUCKERS, NO, GODDAMMIT. WHERE ARE YOU? THIS IS HAPPENING NOW. I'M DONE PLAYING WITH YOU"

Shit. Desmond gets himself up as quick as he can. His shoulder is throbbing, the sleeve of his shirt soaked in blood at this point, blood dribbling down his arm. Everything hurts, and it's surprising he hasn't actually broken anything yet from how Blacklight was tossing him around.

"Desmond!"

His head snaps in he direction of his name. Cold relief washes over him, and he staggers after it. And there in the midst of the haze, there she is, standing in the doorway to freedom. Desmond lunges for it, sweet freedom, the way out, he's almost there-

He's slammed to the ground again as that familiar weight is hooked around his ankle and starts to pull him back in. He can practically feel the absolute hate and anger coursing through that one tendril on him, can  hear the monster growling, snarling, intent on not letting its prey escape it. But she is there to catch his hands, to pull him forward, to play that tug-o-war with the beast. Blacklight is significantly weaker now, and Lucy pulls Desmond out of the room, and through the door.

The room is sealed off once they're inside. An ear shattering scream can be heard from the other side, the monster's one tendril cut off from the rest of it, sliced clean by the door. Lucy sits him up, and right away pulls him into a crushing hug. Desmond lets his head drop on her shoulder, tired, he feels so tired, that was exhausting. How long did it take, to get from there to here? Was this really Lucy? Was Lucy a thing after all this time? A think he could touch, and feel, and kiss, and hear, and see?

There is a loud pounding at the wall, at the door that is now no more. It's enough to scare Desmond back into alertness, to jump away from Lucy and ready to start running again. But Blacklight can't break through, he's throughly stuck in there. It's over. It's _over._

Lucy helps him up, lets him lean on her shoulder as she guides him away from the wall, away from that room, and into another, smaller room lined with computer monitors. All the monitors show various camera angles of the room Blacklight was now sealed in. All monitors showed a wild Blacklight, screaming, and pounding at the wall, until eventually his strength fails. He falls to his knees, his sides seizing up, and he vomits blood and other _things_ on to the floor.

 _"Did you see that?!"_ Blacklight screams crackle over the speakers. _"Did you see how ready he was? To run from you? I TOLD YOU. I TOLD YOU HE'D LEAVE YOU. EVERYONE LEAVES YOU. HE'S GONE, AND YOU'RE NEVER GETTING HIM BACK. DO YOU SEE?"_

Desmond blinks at it the sight, just listening to Blacklight roar at himself, roar at Alex. It's Alex who's being yelled at. It's Alex that's still in there, stuck with that thing he made forever. Or for as long as the virus wished it.

Desmond really needs to go see a doctor before he passes out from blood loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Go to sleep my love  
> Taste my sweet revenge on your lips  
> Its sealed with a kiss” - The Hardest Part of Letting Go…Sealed With A Kiss, by Megadeth
> 
> Look it up, shrumpdumps, it's the main inspiration for this fic and where we get the title from. :T
> 
> ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT


	12. Beneath the Venomous Moonlight

_Post Experiment, Day 5_

 

Alex gets shotgun today. Blacklight's still being moody, still sulking like a child in the backs of their mind. Still hissing like a cat at the IV attached to their arm, the dark red liquid slowly dripping into it. They are in a room, a plain white room, at a table big enough for two. Blacklight doesn't want to talk to anyone today, pouting about the manmade venom festering in their metaphorical veins. He's still angry with Alex, but Alex doesn't care.

Alex just stares down at the table, hands folded together in front of him, and he just waits. He's never felt more tired, more exhausted. He had been crying again, siting back in the shadows, pouring out his heart while Blacklight rampaged and threw his gigantic temper tantrums. Alex wishes he'd just be consumed fully already, just so he won't have to deal with it. But Blacklight's not a people person, no matter how hard he tries. Someone needs to be able to speak with Abstergo, and sadly, that's what Alex is kept alive for.

A door appears in the wall and parts away to allow Lucy in. She's the picture of professionalism, a form fitting blouse, a long pencil skirt, her hair back in a bun. She smiles at him as she walks in, and takes a seat at the table across from him. The door in the wall slides shut and disappears, sealing them inside. They must really trust him in his weakened state to let Lucy in here alone with him.

"Hi Alex" Lucy greets him, her voice soft, so warm.

"Hey Lucy" Alex says back, his voice empty, so defeated.

"How are you doing?"

"I've been better"

He wants her to leave. She just got here, but Alex can't stand to let her see him like this. So crushed, so cowed, so weak. But he doesn't tell her to leave, can't stand to do that either. He misses her, so much. He needs to talk to someone that's not Blacklight, not throwing everything back in his face.

"Is he okay?" Alex asks. "Is he still…"

"Desmond's fine" Lucy answers. "His shoulder is all patched up, and we flushed the virus out of his system. He'll be back to work at the end of the week"

Alex nods, relief washing over him. If anything, Desmond's health was what scared him the most. A couple days ago, the worst day of his life by far, the most terrifying. Being so powerless to save one his few friends-

( _"LEAVEHIMALONEBLACKLIGHTLEAVEHIMALONEGODDAMMITDON'TTOUCHHIMGETOFFHIMPLEASEDON'THURTHIMPLEASEPLEASEJUSTSTOPHURTINGHIMFORTHELOVEOFGODJUSTLEAVEHIMALONE"_ )

Watching him get thrown around like a rag doll. To watch him pinned up against that wall, with no where to go, no power to fight back, incapable of doing anything at that point. And Alex got to watch every single last bit. Watching that needle plunge into his arm, feelling Bloodtox for the first time, it was so damn refreshing, so amazing, absolutely incredible. Only because it was enough to slow Blacklight down, to throw him in for a loop.

"I didn't know you had the room hooked up like that. That was the best gassing ever" Alex can't help but chuckle weakly at. A stronger chuckle is heard from Lucy.

"We were prepared for everything" she says. "On your orders, and then some. How did he not know though? He was in your head for how long and he didn't think of that?"

"I got a few tricks up a my sleeve" Alex shrugs. "He's since taken everything else apart, nothing's secret from him anymore"

There is nothing Blacklight doesn't know anymore. He sunk is claws in, tore what he could apart, did not rest until there was nothing left to hide. Another one of his tantrums meant to bring pain and agony towards Alex.

"Are you going to be okay?" Lucy asks him. Alex blinks at her. Then just shakes his head, no, no he won't be okay. He never will be. "We can still help you, you know" Lucy goes on.

"Like what?"

"We can still save you. Would you be willing to be hooked up to an An-"

" _No_ "

It's the last thing he would want.

"What would you hope to accomplish with that, Lucy? Download me onto a hard drive? Plug me into some brain dead vegetable? How's Ten doing? He lose his mind yet? Body open for rent?"

"Alex please. We can't afford to lose you"

"It's all on file for you. I wrote everything down for you people to go and copy off of. If there was nothing left for me to do, we wouldn't be having this conversation"

He wouldn't have locked himself in that room. He wouldn't have injected himself with his own killer virus. He wouldn't be but a mere second personality, a second set of memories in something else's mind. And they wanted to throw him in an _Animus_ of all things. He'd rather be dead completely than be loaded up in one of those.

"He has time you know" Lucy whispers. "He still has plenty of time before his number comes up"

"You still promise to take care of him, right?" Alex asks.

"Of course" Lucy nods.

"Keep him sane?"

"As long as I can"

It was a secret vow, they may have made before. Working with Alex was one of the things keeping Desmond off the Animus Project, keeping him away from those goddamned machines that made people go mad. A project that had taken some extreme executive meddling to make sure Desmond would be number seventeen, the last on the list, instead of up front somewhere. In hindsight, it absolutely was the worst idea ever to have Desmond and the DNA replicating virus in the same room together. Desmond had been right from the start, it was a terrible, shitty idea.

So perhaps now it was a vow Alex had broken. He didn't keep Desmond safe at all. He nearly got him killed. What wasn't he thinking?

"He must hate me" Alex says aloud. His shoulders slump, head bowing, shallow breaths from nonexistent lungs.

"He doesn't hate you" Lucy shook her head. "I don't want to be hearing that from you" and she reaches out across the table to take his pale hand in hers. "Alex Mercer, no matter what, he's still your friend and he cares about you. Don't start spouting that kind of bullshit"

Lucy's hand is warm, but cold. Cold because his is so much warmer than hers, but warm because it's nice just to hold her hand, a natural kind of warmth. Alex tiredly looks up at her. He can only look miserable. If his tear ducts actually worked, they'd be leaking. If he had an actual heart it would be breaking. Thankfully he has no lungs because he surely would have stopped breathing. Lucy can say what she wants, but a guilty conscious isn't an easy thing to remedy.

"Just keep him safe" Alex whispers. "For me" and he gently squeezes her hand.

"For you" Lucy nods. She pulls her hand away, and stands up from her seat. She walks around the small table, and pulls him close. Alex clings to her, memorizing every bit of her. How she breathed, what the beating of her heart sounded like, how her blood coursed through her. The feel of her skin, the perfume she was wearing. He didn't want to forget her, nor did he want her to forget him.

Lucy kisses the top of his head, and pulls away. Pulls away and doesn't look back as the door in the wall pops open and she walks though. She pauses at the door, but still doesn't look, and leaves. The door disappears once more. The scene is so horribly familiar, so much like the day Karen left him. Alex slumps back in his seat, head thunking into the table. He lets out a strangled cry, because it hurts. Somehow he feels it, and it hurts, and he can't bear it.

"Fucking do it already" Alex moans. "You don't fucking need me, just do it. The one time you can listen to me, just fucking _kill_ me"

_Oh but why would I do that? i'm not done making your life a pitiful trip through hell. Strap in, Doc, ride's not over yet._

Alex knocks the table away from him. It breaks apart upon contact with the wall.

"I hate you" he screams. "I hate you, I hate you, I fucking HATE you!"

He falls to his knees, and swings his head down into the floor. The floor audibly cracks, the rack the IV is attached to crashing to the floor with him. 

_Cyring's not going to make her come back. Nothing is gonna make them come back. Look at you, still in the cage. And you're never gonna leave._

_You're never gonna get away from me._

His screams don't stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, all good things, must come to an end.
> 
> Desmond's gonna be fine. Alex and Blacklight are stuck together forever. And no one is happy. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ✧ 
> 
> Thanks for reading everyone!


	13. My Plan to Watch You Fail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So…I missed this story. And ultimately decided there was a bit more left to tell…Before the story begins, and then right after. But this is gonna be it. It's just gonna be these two more chapters detailing the events leading up to Sealed With and then some events right after. I've decided to break this up into two chapters because this one chapter alone was 3,600 words. That's kinda long so to make it easier on you guys, you're gonna get two chapters instead. Yay! Right then, on with the show!

"Don't worry, you'll like him. He's kinda of an asshole but-"

"Kinda an asshole?"

"Okay he's a big asshole, but he's one of my best friends. You'll like him"

Desmond just decides to believe her. He's heard shit, about the Germs Guy. The Disease Dude. Abstergo's pride and joy, next to the Ani _shit_ Project. Some guy they plucked fresh out of college and threw him into a lab and told him to get to work, and been there ever since. How Lucy is friends with some fucking nerd who has a boner for the Black Plague is beyond Desmond's comprehension. And the only reason he was coming down here with her was because he loved and trusted Lucy, and if her geeky buddy needed some help around his lab, ah well, there were better people to help.

Desmond didn't know shit about science, never really cared for it, never concerned himself with it. Which was weird to think about considering he worked for the biggest "pharmaceutical" company in the world (but hey, better than living the rest of his life in a hole in the ground with no pay). And now here he was, about to become number one lab assistant to some sick puppy. But whatever, so long as it keeps putting his name farther and farther back on the list for the Animus, Desmond doesn't really wanna complain.

Lucy takes him down into the sub-levels of the company. It somewhat vaguely reminds him of going down deep into the dungeons of some castle where some mad wizard is doing mad…wizard shit. _Space wizards._ And when they do finally get down there and find the right lab, all his expectations are blown out of the water.

"Hey Alex!" Lucy says as they walk in. "Meet your new assistant!"

And Dr. Alexander J. Mercer is just some young guy who can't be any older than Desmond himself. He wears a regular lab coat like everyone else, the big, dorky black framed glasses, hair slicked back. But man, he has cheekbones that could kill a man, and the most blue eyes he's ever seen. They just stare back at each other, not really sure if they're supposed to be impressed or not, not sure if this is actually gonna work out.

"Quit with the faces you two" Lucy ends up scolding them. "You both said yes, so both of you, _suck_ it up, and get some shit done, alright?"

Alright.

 

* * *

 

 

it's a weird sort of partnership, at first. They're super uneasy around each other at first, not really sure what to do, or where to start. Desmond just lets Alex do his thing, and only does whatever when asked to. It's really a lot of boring shit that Desmond doesn't understand. Alex attempts to explain his work to him at first, but it's not getting through Desmond's thick skull, and Alex just gives up and tells him not to touch anything.

The most Desmond really gets to do for him, at first, pick up some sandwiches from this Italian  place down the street, cause it's the best, and science can't happen on an empty stomach. Otherwise, beakers and things, and microscopes and such, he's not allowed to touch because if he breaks any of it, Alex will cut off his head and experiment on it.

So the one lonesome corner it was.

One day, Desmond is just milling about, hands in his pockets, just staring down at sheets of paper with formulas and shit he doesn't understand, and glasses of weird liquids and such. And somewhere, among all the clutter, Desmond finds a pair of speakers hooked up to a music player. And despite all better judgement, Desmond reaches out to turn it on. It's dead. Not surprising. Why on earth would Alex remember to charge it when he can't remember what the sun looks like half the time?

So he takes matters into his own hands, and Desmond pulls out his own mp3 player and plugs it in. Queues up some music, and the magic begins.

"Really?"

Desmond turns to look at Alex, who is giving him an incredulous look.

"Their stuff from the eighties was much better"

"Come on, give their new stuff a chance! It's not that different!" Desmond protests.

"Nah" Alex shakes his head. "If you're gonna play music, play the better kind"

"Fuck you, Alex"

"What, no dinner first?"

 

* * *

 

Lunch, dinner, second dinner, whatever they wanna call it, usually down at Shoni's. Just about everyone in Abstergo, eats at Shoni's. They give the place so much business, they get a discount on meatball subs every Tuesday and Thursday. The owner started selling beer on the weekends. It's a twenty-four business, seven days a week. There is no shortage of people to run the place, probably hired by Abstergo themselves. Re-stock, never a problem either. But Desmond knows well by now to just _not_ question it.

He likes eating at Shoni's with Alex. Gone is the lab coat, the glasses, the air of professionalism. And here is some young guy in a leather jacket who licks the butter from garlic bread off his fingertips and likes to peel olives off his pizza to flick them at Desmond's face.

"Your table manners are atrocious" Desmond always says to him. "You're a grown ass man, goddammit"

"Nah" Alex scoffs. "Today, I am an over grown teenager with a doctorate's. Deal with it"

So in response, Desmond slaps the olives back at him. And that's pretty much how they eat dinner together.

Sometimes they can convince Lucy to join them, and only then is Alex the perfect gentleman at the dinner table. He uses a napkin to wipe his hands, he eats everything on his plate, uses cutlery, the works. The first time he does it, Desmond questions him on why he can behave in front of Lucy, but not him.

And Alex replies simply; "Because it's fun being a dick to you"

Desmond complains about Alex to Lucy all the time, especially their little dinner specials. And she just laughs at him, pretends it's not a big deal. Takes weeks to finally tell him that it was her fault Alex loved tossing olives at his table mates. She threw some at him once when they were arguing and he just picked it up from there. When she does tell Desmond that, he can't be mad at her because Alex is a three year old. So instead he just retaliates accordingly whenever the time comes.

 

* * *

 

They speak to it. Down, down in the basement. One at a time of course, because Their messages are never always for multiple parties to hear. Desmond speaks to it because Vidic makes him, because They like him best, and he can wield it better than anyone. He can stand to hold it and speak to Them for hours on end, where most people would be driven mad by the power upon first touch.

They like Alex because he's smart, he's inventive, he has a crazy ass goal he wants to achieve that no one else wants to tangle with. Because of that, They like him. They want to help him. They find him ambitiously amusing, and so They tell him whatever he wants to hear.

It's always something, meeting back up after a visit to the basement. Desmond hates talking to Them. It's never anything new with Them. Save the world, the Chosen Hero, blah blah blah. Someone that's not Desmond, because he's not anyone's hero. If he was, he wouldn't be here working for the enemy. They have great plans for him, but Desmond tells Them to shove it up Their asses. He could care less.

When Alex comes back from the basement, he's in a fervor. He has a million new ideas to write down on his whiteboard, to type up on his computers, anything that can hold words. Just words, never full sentences. Desmond gives himself headaches trying to deceiver the scribble scrabble that is Alex's hand writing. And even when he does, it never makes sense.

"What do They actually tell you, Alex?" Desmond asks rather frequently. Alex will sit back, with a grin on his face, blue eyes oh so wide.

"Everything I need to know" he'll sigh. "Amazing, incredible things. It's all so simple, if I had more resources, I could get it all done in a day"

But what "that" is, he never says. Desmond just supposes whatever it is someone hears from the Apple, it's solely meant for them, and he doesn't really need to know about it.

 

* * *

 

Alex wants to create life, or so Desmond understands it to be. Alex's real goal is to create a sentient, being. In the form of a shapeshifter. A face stealer. A body snatcher. Something that could survive in any environment thrown at it. Something that could slip through the public as one of their own and perfectly able to hide its true face. A destroyer and creator. The ultimate state of being that begins as the most simple of infiltrator's, something that affects people each and every day without them noticing.

Alex wants to create a virus.

A virus is a simple thing. It can get inside and affect any thing, all types of living things. There is no limit to what it can and can't infect. Anyone, any _thing_ could be infected by a virus, and they would never know. It could take days, weeks, maybe even months for a virus to full reveal themselves within their host. And by then, who knows, it could be too late. By then the virus has multiplied, grown stronger, weakened the host.

"Now imagine one big virus"

One big single organism that grows stronger outside the host. That it can break free from an host body and become its own. Able to look and act the part it needs to. Can mimic voices, remember memories, copy mannerisms, learn what it needs at extraordinary speed. The more it consumes, it invades, attacks, replicates, the better and better it becomes. The limits would be endless.

And Alex wants to make it so bad.

Desmond gets the explanation rather often. He half pays attention to these explanations, and there's always whole chunks of information he just completely misses. Sometimes he listens, other times he's too enraptured watching Alex talk. Alex gets so enthusiastic when it comes to his little virus project. He gets so pumped, so fired up. His hands are flailing about everywhere, he can't stand still is walking circles around him. He's on to something, something great by the looks of it.

But he can't get it done. He studies diseases all damn day long, plays around with them in the labs. No matter what he does, his "living" virus that can escape a host body seems impossible. It just can't be done. Sure, there are some microorganisms that can live on the surface of objects, exposed to open air. But something that exists entirely to go about its business without a host, with just itself to fester on, it just doesn't seem like it could ever happen.

Alex Mercer is a very determined being, however. He is not so easily deterred, no matter how many different failures he has. He even goes as far, as asking Them for help. And that's when Desmond knows nothing good will come of this project, because if They have an answer for it, it's probably gonna be fucking terrible.

(And it was)

 

* * *

 

Alex begins to work relentlessly. All day, all night, with few stops in between. They told him what to do, and thus, Alex starts to really dig in, really work, and let nothing get in the way of his work. Their little meals at Shoni's become more and more infrequent, they're getting take-out more often. Even then, Alex works and eats at the same time.

Desmond is starting to feel less and less like his assistant, and more like Alex's babysitter. Cause Alex won't eat unless food is shoved in his face. He won't sleep until he runs himself ragged and he's hunched over his desk. He won't go outside unless someone has the patience to drag him out. it's just running around between labs, and the basement, and back to his own work, and that's all his life becomes for a few months.

And it's really boring. For someone like Desmond, it's boring because he has nothing he can really do, and it all feels like a waste of time, and really who the fuck cares about a sentient disease? Why did he keep ending up with the crazy doctor dudes? At least Vidic had actually accomplished something by the time Desmond worked under him. Meanwhile, Alex was fucking playing with his chemistry set like it was eighth grade all over again.

It didn't matter how many times Alex went downstairs to talk to a glowing ball, there was no way in hell some space wizard hallucinations actually had the answer to making an infectious microorganism. Listening to them was more asinine than trying to create the virus.

(Yet when he catches Alex hunched over his desk, head on crossed arms, Desmond will still slip his glasses off and drape his jacket over him. Because even though Desmond thinks it's all crazy and stupid, he still wants to try and help his friend any way he can. The faster it gets done, the better.)

 

* * *

 

It happened over a weekend Desmond had off. Desmond went to Coney Island with a couple other guys from work, had their fun, it was fantastic. Went home that night, had the next day off, rested, and walked back into the labs the next morning after that. He walks in to see Alex at one of the tables, one fist tucked under his chin, his other hand stroking at some black mass on a tray.

At first Desmond just thinks the other has gone insane at last, so sleep deprived and spent that he's just doing random ass shit. But when Desmond draws close, the mass in the tray moves.

"Shhhhshhh" Alex shushes at them both. Desmond, who jumped back in shock, and the mass as it bulges and then lies flat against the tray again. "Surprised? I know, I am too"

"What the actual fucking fuck is that thing?!" Desmond cries out, the mass writhing again, streaks of red lancing around it.

"Shhhhh, not so louuud" Alex says quietly. "It's been a long weekend for both of us"

"Alex…"

"It's real, Desmond. It's real, and alive. Oh so alive, it's so amazing. Come on, come say hello. He doesn't bite yet"

"He?" Desmond inquires, approaching again warily.

"Well, it doesn't have a gender of course, but Blacklight sounds more masculine, doesn't it?"

"Blacklight?"

"The name of the virus. I'll explain later. Now come _here_ "

Desmond's not sure what he's looking at. Black paint at first, or maybe some clay. Dough maybe? Alex encourages him to touch it, Blacklight loves being pet. Desmond hesitates at first, but eventually reaches out to stroke his fingers against it. It's surprisingly warm and almost slick to the touch. A tendril like thing creeps off the mass to wrap around his fingers, much like a newborn baby closes its tiny hand over the one finger of its parent. The tendril around his fingers pulses and rubs against him, much like a purring cat would.

It's an incredibly unreal experience. This was Blacklight. This was the virus Alex had worked so hard on for the last few months. Had poured blood, sweat, and tears into. And Desmond was fucking holding hands with it, essentially.

"Incredible, right?" Alex asks, an oddly pleased, yet passive smile on his face. "He's already learned so much since last night. Don't mind him right now, he's not used to skin yet"

"Uhhhh" Desmond replies intelligently. The mass lets him go to lie back down flat in the tray. "Yeaaaah…Uhm, Alex?"

"Hm?"

"How?"

"How what?"

"How did you do it? How is this even happening?"

"Oh" and the way Alex's smile twists is enough to make Desmond regret even asking. "They told me how"

"And what did They say exactly?" Desmond asks. Alex glances up at him, bags under his eyes, face pale from the lack of sun.

"You don't wanna know"

Desmond can live with that.

 

* * *

 

Blacklight is creepy. The first week with it in the lab is completely unsettling and disturbing. Desmond swears that thing watches him like a hawk every single moment he's in the lab. Alex keeps giving him flimsy excuses that it's supposed to, it's a learning virus. The more human behavior it can observe, the better.

But Desmond hates being in the lab all day with that eerie feeling he's being watched. Blacklight has no eyes. No mouth, or ears, or nose, or anything. But it's incredibly self-aware. When it's not locked up in its fish tank, Alex will point across the room at some object, say "Go get it!" and then Blacklight is scuttling across the lab and bringing Alex the exact thing he asked for.

It likes to wrap itself around Desmond's arm, his left one with the tattoo. Desmond can peel it off his arm, and in bright red is an exact copy of the tattoo imprinted on it. Thankfully that's the only tattoo Desmond has, because the thought of Blacklight actively diving under his clothes for more is sickening.

It also likes to eat off their plates. If they have a pizza or some take-out, it'll crawl up to the table to swipe bits of food away. Watching it eat is quite the experience. Since it has no mouth, it has no teeth to shred with and no jaw to chew with. It looks more like the pieces of food are absorbed into the virus and just sorta disappear. Broken down, consumed, energy replenished. Nothing goes to waste. The initial goal is to move past basic, human food, and move on to consuming any kind of organic life. However, it doesn't stop Desmond from shoving bits of sticky rice at Blacklight with chopsticks.

And also because it has no mouth, Blacklight cannot utter a sound. Really, it lacks vocal chords, and thus, can't make an audible noise from its body. But Alex will still talk to it like it can talk back to him, like one day it will magically start spouting Shakespeare at him. Desmond refuses to out right talk to it like it's a human being, because it's _not_. It's more like a weird squirrel-dog-cat thing, and it's creepy, and weird, and dear god why the fuck did anyone think it was a good idea?

Alex just keeps reassuring him things will be different when Blacklight is given a host. When Desmond asks him when that will be, Alex gives an awkward smile, and tells him not to worry about it.

 

* * *

 

Half a month later, they finally go out to Shoni's for dinner again. Actually order at a counter and sit down at their usual table, and wait for their usual orders to come, and flicking olives at each other afterwards. They're like two parents finally out of the house for the night after having their first baby together, except Blacklight's not a baby and is locked in a glass box, and if Alex and Desmond ever became parents together, they'd be shitty as hell parents.

At least Alex looks like a new parent who needed a night off. He's slouched in his seat, head tipped back, a cold beer dangling from his fingers. Desmond flicks an olive at his face. It lands right on his lips. Alex's tongue pokes out to sweep the olive into his mouth. And Desmond laughs.

"So now that we're having a good dinner, are you gonna get a good night's sleep later?" an amused Desmond asks.

"Probably not" Alex rumbles, taking a long swig from his beer.

"Probably yes"

"Nah"

"We'll see"

And they laugh at each other. As far as anyone would know, it's just the two of them. Two pals, having their dumb, normal dinner, just like always since they first met. And it was all going pretty well, at least in Desmond's opinion. He could live for night's like these. So much better than being in a lab all night with a creepy biomass. Sitting in the dining room of Shoni's with the smell of garlic and butter in the air was way more preferable. If they could just sit here all night, that would be great.

"So I'm gonna host Blacklight" Alex casually informs him. Desmond, who was stuffing pizza into his face, freeze with a slice half hanging out from his mouth. He slowly glances over at Alex with a bewildered expression. 

"Hrmf?" Desmond asks.

"It'll take a couple more weeks until he's ready to take over a host. The same could be said for me of course, I'm not exactly perfect host material. But I can definitely turn that around in time for-"

He doesn't get to finish. Desmond rips rest of the pizza off from his mouth to just slap Alex in the face with it.

 

* * *

 

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" Desmond screams at Alex the moment they get back to the facility. "The fuck do you mean, 'I'm gonna host Blacklight'?"

"It means exactly what you think it does" Alex growls.

"You're gonna let your creepy dog thing _live_ inside you"

"Don't call him that"

"It's not a him, Alex! It's a thing! You created a killer _thing_. What part of that do you not understand?"

"Why do you even care?"

"Cause you're gonna do something stupid!"

"No it's not. You don't fucking know what's going on at all"

"Frankenstein's monster, that's what. Gonna go fuck your sister next, Victor?"

The resulting scuffle could be heard from down the hall and continued until a couple other workers found them and broke them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told ya it was long. Part 2, comin soon. Meanwhile, you can listen to the Sealed With soundtrack as you await the next and the absolute, final chapter of Sealed With.
> 
> http://thewritingmusctahe.tumblr.com/post/82657795667/the-official-soundtrack-need-something-to-listen


	14. The One I Held So High

They don't talk to each other for a week. They don't text each other, Desmond doesn't come into the lab, and they avoid each other on the company's messaging system. In that week, Desmond takes some time to think. And he does realize he was a total dick and that was all the _wrong_ way to react to something like that. He thought it over, and while there was no proper way to react to being told your best friend was gonna let himself get infected by his own handmade virus, well…

Desmond had a whole apology ready when he walked into the lab after that week where they ignored each other. Alex didn't even so much as turn to look at him as he walked in. The wriggling mass that was Blacklight however, launched itself at Desmond the moment the door slid shut. Desmond held up an arm to let the virus wrap itself around him like a long, living glove. He let himself be distracted by the virus as it spread over his arm and rubbed itself against him as if it had forgotten what he felt like.

"Hey Alex" Desmond finally says, not taking his eyes off the virus quite yet. Alex doesn't respond to him. "Alex?" Desmond tries again, reaching up with his other hand to peel the virus off his arm. Blacklight wraps around his hand instead, and he loses it in a mass of smooth blackness, but still able to open and close his hand, as well as wiggle his fingers around. Desmond sighs in defeat.

"Okay, _fine_. I'm sorry. I get it, I was a huuuuge jerk about it. And you have every right to be mad at me"

He pauses. Alex still has his back to him. So he continues.

"I just…It's not the world's most perfect excuse? But I just like, got really scared for you? I still don't know much about your puppy here," and Desmond karate chops the air to send Blacklight flying from his hand. "But I don't think having it inside you is the most safe thing in the world. I mean you've told me everything about viruses, so what makes me think putting one inside you isn't deadly?"

He watches Blacklight crawl away across the lab to climb into its fish tank. Desmond strides away to the bench Alex is working out to stand next to him. "Basically what I'm trying to say is" he continues quietly. "I don't want anything to happen to you. Cause I care about you a lot. I'm sorry I made you really angry"

Desmond glances down at the "work" Alex is conducing. Alex has been writing out some paper the whole time. But the scribble scrabble on the paper isn't his horrible handwriting, it's literal scribbling. Alex hasn't actually written anything the whole time. Desmond looks up just a little to see Alex's face. Alex is staring hard down at the paper. Dark rings are around his eyes, like he hasn't at all gotten that sleep Desmond told him to get s week earlier.

Those piercing blue eyes flicker towards him.

"Don't" Alex finally says. "I'm not the one you should be worrying about"

"Well I kinda already spent a week agonizing over it so…"

"It'll be fine. I'll be fine"

"Will you really though? Can you positively guarantee that you will?"

"No" and a hand curls around one of Desmond's. "But I'll fucking try"

It's good enough for Desmond, who squeeze's the hand in his own. And just like that, everything resumes to normal.

 

* * *

 

Alex is even busier after they made up. Even more projects he's not allowed to tell Desmond about. Projects he works on in a completely separate lab and doesn't tell him where it is. Meanwhile, Desmond is left to essentially babysit Blacklight, and that's fucking terrible all on its own. Locked in one room with the incredible blob monster is not Desmond's idea of fun, of an afternoon, or of safety. 

Dealing with Blacklight is a lot like dealing with a two year old crossed with a monkey that is also Flubber at the same time. It's also a very touchy feely two year old monkey Flubber thing. Desmond literally can't keep the damn thing off him, it loves to give "hugs", and meld itself against his skin. If Desmond's not careful, he'll forget Blacklight is still on his arm, or leg, or neck, then nearly unlock the door and walk out with it.

Alex had given him clear instructions long ago to _not_ let Blacklight out of the lab under _any_ circumstances. It's not that Blacklight isn't ready for the outside world, it's not really to deal with people on a larger scale. One of Alex's fears is that Blacklight will panic and attack someone, either killing them or infecting them. And while that is the whole purpose of Blacklight, it's not meant to just be set loose and have at it.

That and Blacklight doesn't like people. It obviously likes its creator and Desmond. It's okay with Lucy, for a while, then it gets irritated with her presence and she has to leave before something happens to her. It's downright hostile with any of the other scientists on that floor that come in to see what Alex is up to or bring him a new head to split open. The best that can be done is that Blacklight slowly adjusts to the idea of people and gets introduced to the world outside the lab gradually. When it finally infects Alex, the idea is that it won't be a problem anymore, it'll be in its true element and will function properly.

And that's all fine and dandy for whenever that happens. But Desmond is ready to lose his goddamn mind the longer he has to sit in the lab with that thing. Getting groped by a living virus thing is only uncomfortable for so long until it gets downright disturbing and no amount of yelling or threats out "time out" seem to work. Desmond really wishes Alex would come back.

 

* * *

 

Time flies by just like that. And everything comes together, and Desmond dreads every single second he crawls closer to it.

After some extensive talking, debating, and arguing, the final plan is finally set into motion. An experiment, to observe how exactly the Blacklight virus infects its host and how long it takes to assume full control. So basically every single bad sci-fi movie wrapped into one, that's basically how Desmond understood it. And somehow, someone, not him, not someone convinced someone else to let Desmond go along for the ride.

He was, after all, Dr. Mercer's only and most trust assistant, and the only other person in world that knew how to handle the virus. Which was very untrue, Desmond didn't fucking know what to do with Blacklight half the time. Hell, he fucking _hated_ Blacklight. But unfortunately, Blacklight was over the moon with him so, Desmond didn't get a lot of options with this.

The plan was to lock the three of them in a room, no way in, no way out. And it would only open up when the virus was fully interrogated into Alex, when two became one and the real magic could start happening. Desmond really, really didn't want to be the one who sat there and got to see it all happen. But he loved Alex to pieces and wasn't going to let the smart idiot stay in there all by himself with no one to talk to. So even if Desmond was given a choice to go in or not, he'd still say yes because he was concerned about his friend and worried that this was gonna end badly.

(Alex just had to promise that Blacklight wouldn't go berserk and kill Desmond in the process of all this. Desmond couldn't be replaced, and the second Desmond flatlined, they wouldn't hesitate to shoot all three of them with as many lethal doses of bloodtox as possible. And if Alex survived that, he sure as hell wasn't going to survive _anything_ that came affter, details Desmond never became aware of until weeks after the experiment.)

Their new "lab" for the experiment was a sterile, white room made of new, space age technology and innovations only Abstergo could come up with. Everything they would need, it would be provided. When the experiment was set to begin, Alex and Desmond walked into that room not knowing when they'd come out, or what exactly would happen to them, but what would happen would be an incredible advance in science, or so they were assured.

They walked in with only the clothes on their backs, Alex a small portable case with Blacklight inside. Alex walked in to set the case down on a bench to take Blacklight out. Desmond walked in, looked around the room, and then turned back to look at the hole in the wall that was their entrance and exit. And he watched, as the door slid shut and locked into place. The seems disappeared, as if the door itself was never there, and it had been a normal wall all along.

Which meant the experiment had begun.

**x-X-X-x**

* * *

 

**o-O-O-o**

 

Desmond still has dreams about it. Of back then. When he was just a dumb lab assistant avoiding the Animus Project. When he went out to get Italian food with one of his best friends every other night. When his shoulder still didn't occasionally throb with pain.

He dreams about those happier times, when his best friend wasn't dead. He still sees themselves, two guys at a booth, flicking olives at each other, bitching about pop culture, and nearly falling asleep where they sat. He still sees themselves in that lab, one trying to explain some quadratic formula to the other and that other just not understanding a damn word being said to him.

Sometimes it's the two of them just standing together, holding hands, arms around one another. Desmond never really saw how handsome Alex was until he's right there in his dreams where every detail is suddenly laid bare to him, and god, how could he let that get away from him? But he'll wake up from those dreams with tears dripping down his cheeks, and he's landed back into a very painful reality.

He blames Blacklight for putting the idea in his head. That Alex may have actually loved him that whole fucking time. He thinks he should have noticed sooner. But he knows Alex and Alex isn't the kind of person to just out right confess his feelings for a person. The more Desmond thinks about it, the signs were all right there. Alex never said how he felt, but he always showed it. And Desmond didn't even so much as blink at it. He just accepted it in any way Alex gave it to him. It was good enough for them.

Of course it only intensified while they were in that damn room. Alex, losing his goddamn mind, didn't feel comfortable in his own skin, what were they doing that whole time? Desmond just held him in his arms, and didn't let go for as long as he could. He used to spend hours with Alex's head on his shoulders, and stroking hair, and just letting him know he wasn't alone, Desmond was there for him.

Desmond started really questioning himself after that. Did he love Alex in return? Did he ever think of him as more than just a friend? And does it do him any good to dwell on it now? It's a little awkward, and a little too late to staring falling for his best friend after his said friend is already dead.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes he swears he can see Alex out of the corner of his eye, like he's just standing there right behind his shoulder. But whenever Desmond turns to look, there's no one there. He blames that on the lack of sleep he's been getting, and the dreams he keeps having. Sometimes he can't sleep because his shoulder is throbbing. He can't sleep because he feels so restless. He wakes up a lot in the night from his dreams, his nightmares.

It's been weeks now, and Desmond is still recovering from the experiment.

His shoulder is fine, just some slight scarring, but that's it. Yet he still feels pain, can still feel those claws sinking in if he concentrates on it hard enough. Especially after a particularly bad dream. The most common one is him and Alex together…Then being torn away from him. And no matter how much he screams and begs and fights, Desmond can't get Alex back. Desmond will bolt upright in bed, sweating from every pore, his whole arm on fire.

He's since been back to the lab where it all started. Or to at least pack up all of Alex's work. Every trip down there is more painful than the last, because Desmond can feel his chest tighten the moment he walks in, and it gets tighter and tighter until he leaves. He won't deny it, he misses Alex. He misses him so much, everything hurts.

It hurts more when the reality of it comes into play. Alex did it all willingly. He let himself die. Those projects from before the experiment were everything he needed to get done and he could in a relatively short amount of time. The only one that mattered to Desmond was bloodtox as it had already saved his life. And of course, leave it to Alex to think up a plan for when shit hit the fan.

A month passes, and Desmond wants to feel like he's over it. It's all in the past, he has to let it go, move on with life. He wants to move on so badly, he takes Lucy out to dinner, at Shoni's. And it goes well, it's like they never stopped going for a while, like nothing ever happened. Desmond pretends that Alex isn't there because he's holed up in the lab, that silly workaholic.

But he takes it a little too far. They get back to Abstergo, and Desmond hits the wrong button the elevator. The button he hits takes them to the labs. He doesn't realize it until Lucy points it out to him.  Desmond breaks down from there because he's still not over it.

 

* * *

 

 

_StillHere has begun chatting with you_

SH: I need you to come see this

WE: Am I gonna like it?

SH: Nope.

WE: Where are you?

SH: Take a wild guess.

WE: Fuck

WE: I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?

SH: Maybe

_StillHere has logged off_

 

* * *

 

He didn't like it, just as Lucy said.

Desmond practically drags his feet down to that surveillance room. Lucy is waiting just inside for him with the current guard of the hour. Lucy doesn't say anything, and the guard brings up a camera feed on one of the larger screens. A cold feeling of dread takes root in Desmond's stomach.

Blacklight is pacing back and forth along one wall. His mouth his moving like he's talking to someone, but of there, there is no one else physically in the room with him. He's visibly agitated, downright distressed. He keeps scratching at the back of his neck, or flexing his hands, grinding his teeth. Whoever he's talking to, he's not happy with. He seems to grow more and more frantic with each passing moment. At one point he slams the wall he's pacing next to with a claw, pausing to seemingly catch his breath.

It's then that Desmond notices it. There is something scratched on the wall above Blacklight's head. The dread in Desmond's stomach spreads when he reads it;

_BYE_

Desmond really wishes it doesn't mean what he thinks it does. But he feels like he knows better than that by this point. The guard hits a few buttons on the computer console. "Been screaming this all day" the guard grunts, and audio filters into the room.

" _Aleeeeeex"_ Blacklight's voice is all but screeching. " _Alex this isn't funny anymoooore. I told you you can't hide from me. Come out, come out wherever you are. Aleeeeeeex_ "

The screams only escalate from there. Blacklight soon turns from distressed to furious, throwing another one of his tantrums as he stomps around the room calling for someone who isn't answering him back. To anyone else, maybe Alex was just asleep, really really asleep and wasn't talking back. But Desmond knows what's going on. Without even having to be told, he knows what's happening. He walks out of the room unable to watch any more. He knows, yes, but he needs to _know_.

 

* * *

 

Desmond doesn't return back to his room, but heads into an elevator and hits the button to take him to the basement.

Down in the basement, the Apple of Eden is waiting for him. He hates that dumb little ball. If it wasn't for that Apple, maybe none of this would be happening. Desmond marches in to the room it sits in, and snatches the Apple off its lone pedestal.

"Where's Alex?" Desmond snarls at it. "Fucking tell me!"

The Apple begins to glow a brilliant gold color. It encases him in a shower of golden light, arcane runes and the likes floating around, foreign sounds echoing off the wall. There's an intense whispering that ripples through the chamber. as if the voices the whispers belong to are debating among themselves.

"Answer my question!" he snaps at the air.

The cloud around him spasms, followed by more whispering until part of the cloud dips forward and swirls in place until a shadowy figure floats before him.

"Gone" the shadow replies, its voice booming as a hundred shadows answer all at once through one mouth.

"Where?"

"To where he has peace, no longer trapped, no longer sealed within the confines of his own mind"

"Was he consumed?"

"No. He has left by his own volition"

It's not what Desmond wants to hear.

"I want him back" Desmond demands. "Isn't there a way to bring him back? Can't he and Blacklight exist at the same time with their own bodies?"

"No. He does not wish to return"

"Not even for me?" Desmond inquires. "Doesn't he fucking love me enough to come back for me?"

And the shadow asks him back, "Did he love you enough to stay?"

Desmond's shoulder begins to throb. He's been asking himself the same question for weeks. The fire in him fades away, and Desmond is back to being a heartbroken mess.

"Is he happier?" Desmond asks quietly.

"Dr. Mercer is at peace. in essence, he is happy"

Desmond slowly nods. He's very willing to accept that. He can't have Alex back, no. But if they say Alex is happy, and if Blacklight is all alone in that head of his, then that's good. The first good thing Desmond's heard in a month.

"Thank you for your time then" Desmond says and sets the Apple back on its pedestal. The shadowy figure vanishes, and the golden cloud around him dissipates. Desmond turns and walks away back to the elevator. The doors slid shut behind him.

 

* * *

 

He dreams of Alex that night. They're just sitting in an empty expanse, side by side, hands together, fingers entwined. There's nothing to see, yet they stare out into the expanse as if if's the most interesting thing in the world. They could just sit there forever, together. If eternity could be spent there with only each other, then nothing would make them happier.

"Do you love me?" Desmond asks.

"Yes" Alex replies.

"For how long?"

Alex thinks.

"A while now"

A pause.

"Do you love me?" Alex asks back.

"Yeah" Desmond grins. "As much as a guy can love a dumb idiot like you"

Alex laughs. Desmond wishes he could hear him laugh like that more.

"Are you happy?"

"I'm always happy around you, Desmond"

And they actually look at each other now. It's like nothing has changed. Alex looks healthy, healthier than normal. Those rings around his eyes are still present, but his skin isn't deathly pale, his cheeks are full, eyes clear. They're smiling at each other, happy to be around one another indeed.

Surprisingly,  they lean in, and kiss. They never kiss in Desmond's dreams, this is the first time it's ever happened. Not that Desmond complains. Alex feels warm to the touch. And he kisses back, and lets his free hand come up to hold Desmond's cheek. Desmond's other hand comes up to Alex's hair, soft and silky. Desmond doesn't know how long they stay there locking lips. Maybe it was only a minute, maybe more. Maybe days, or weeks, maybe even years. But he wouldn't mind, because this is where he wants to be, he's sure.

They stop as suddenly as they started. They go back to smiling at each other, just for a little bit. Desmond takes in a deep breath of air, what he says next, he know will hurt somehow, but it's so important that he does.

"You have to go now Alex" he says.

"I know" Alex nods.

"I'll remember you" Desmond promises. "I'll remember you, forever. Even when they strap me into the Animus, and I go crazy or whatever…I'll still remember you"

"I'll worry about you" Alex says sadly.

"Don't" Desmond shakes his head. "I'm not the one you should be worrying about"

"Stay safe, Desmond"

"I'll fucking try"

Desmond wakes up right after that, just as the words pass through his lips. He never dreams of Alex again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end. Officially. Nothing left to write.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be one of those stories where…I let the story explain the plot…or as much as I want to. But the premise for this is, what if the Blacklight virus was a real virus. It's a living, separate entity from the rest of the world, and like a real virus, once inside its host, it festers and grows, and attacks the body, and takes over whatever it likes. But it's not immediate like in Prototype, it's a slow process. SCIENCE!
> 
> Uhhhhhhhhhhmmmm if you don't already know with me….Except some language, M/M (obviously you can tell who the pairing is by now), and some scenes that might make you wanna look away (to the best of my ability). Unless you know me and you came here for just that. In which case, enjoy.


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